Horizon to Horizon
by Avdal
Summary: When Kylo found the dying mermaid, he knew there was only one right thing to do: kill it before it could kill him. Yet... he found himself unable to. There was something about the beautiful girl that captured him from the moment he saw her. Maybe that was why he took the girl with him, hiding her in his ower even if it meant putting both their lives under the greatest of risks.
1. Morning, Mists, and Mermaids

author's note:

A big THANK YOU to everyone who gave me prompts when I needed them to help get over my crippling writer's block. I have quite a few of them now and I'm going to be working on them (promise!), this first one was from reylo_my_heart on Twitter who asked for a selkie AU. Well… this is a mermaid AU, and Kylo's not a fisherman but a knight, but I hope you like the different direction I took with your prompt anyhow!

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 **Horizon to Horizon**

 **chapter one: Morning, Mists, and Mermaids**

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Mermaids can't drown.

Except this one did.

Something must have happened to her, and Kylo couldn't shake the consuming feeling that gripped him as soon as he'd seen her. He'd found her washed up on the shore in a lifeless heap of skin and scale and netting. She must not have been there for long, but long enough. She was dead. Very dead. Kylo couldn't sense a single echo of a hum from her mind. Still, he approaches the body cautiously, his palm instinctively falling to rest at the hilt of his saber by his side.

Creatures such as these often go in packs, and they could be very vicious. That he knows with a certainty, for gods be sure that he's killed enough of their kind and bares their given scars for proof of the fact.

"I should let the tide wash you away for me," he tells the girl's body as he kneels close but not too close. "Save me the trouble of untangling you from all this… _wait_. How did you even get here?"

Dead bodies don't answer, merfolk or not. The body of this one might still have some explanation if he looks at it the right way, though.

Tide was out and had been for too long. She couldn't have washed in with the last rise because he'd been out on patrol then. So she either had crawled onto land, possibly all confused in the head after becoming tangled in the net, or… or, far more disturbingly, whatever man or beast that had gotten her had dragged her out to be found by him.

A truly alarming thought, and Kylo chooses to decide on the former until proven otherwise. This creature was very newly dead, and he could tell that from the faint hint of color still blooming across the female creature's skin. A color that's slowly fading and yet still glows all the way from the deceptively human-looking cheeks to the rudely human-looking exposed breasts.

"Gods."

Kylo almost yanks his cowl off to cover up the poor thing. It's impossible not to feel pity for the creature, at least on some level. She was young, that was obvious. Beast or not, there still was a sense of loss for a life that had barely had the chance to live.

"I might as well bury you, then," he tells to no one. "Tide might get you for me, or it might just drag you where I can't reach and then I'll have to smell you rot for weeks."

It's a feeble excuse to hide his humanity. Kylo Ren, Master of the very Knights sworn to rid the land of godless creatures of magic just like this, now giving one a proper burial as if she was a life he wouldn't have killed on his own.

He leans closer, studying the still damp hair tangled over the freckled face. She looks so much like a human in this form. He's much more familiar with her kind in their other shape, the one that could still put a chill down even the most jaded and powerful of his Knights. Here now, though, from the waist up she looked like something that demanded be avenged.

"Lucky we're alone, or I'd have had to chop you up and feed you back to where you came from."

His words may be harsh, but they were belied by that deep tug in the center of his chest. If his Knights were around, he'd have had to hide that emotion from them, too.

A morbid curiosity overtakes him the longer he stares at the creature face. He reaches out, sweeping a tangled mat of hair away from her closed eyes. Her skin is still warm, truly she must have only been out here for a very short time before he'd stumbled across her.

And there are chaffed burns on her wrists.

Kylo blinks, noticing them for the first time. Rope marks, clearly. They can't be from the fisherman's net she had met her death in because they wouldn't have formed then.

The knot in his chest twists then, flipping over itself in his stomach and bringing with it a sudden sense of confused dread. Someone had tied this creature up then? Who? Who would do that? His Knights would have killed her clean, simple, and fast. No need to drag it out more than it had to be done.

A villager then? One of the fishermen? Kylo had only ever sensed fear from them at even the briefest mention of the supernatural, but perhaps he had missed something more insidious?

This could be a problem.

"I'll find out," he promises the body.

He means it, too. Now this has suddenly become personal. There's an order to things, and someone had been stepping outside it and must be dealt with swiftly and definitively.

Kylo starts to untangle the limp body from the net, working as fast as his gloved hands will allow him to in the cold and wet winter air. The scales on her tail are slippery, and the net slides off easily from there. Her upper body, however, is very human in both appearance and its inclination to be difficult. There are fishhooks in the net, and those and tangled in her hair or gouged into her bare skin in ways that make Kylo wince despite how much worse he would have done to her himself if she were alive.

The gloves do him no favors here, and he reluctantly takes them off only to find that she's still warm. She should have fallen cool by now, as frozen as the air is.

Again Kylo sweeps over her mind. It's as still as her chest that hadn't risen once this whole time.

No. She'd _dead_. Truly. The warmth of her magical skin is a mystery, but there's no life here.

It prompts him to hurry along with his task. Bury the girl and get back inside the watchtower to his fire. The netting around her torso, around her _bare_ torso, is wrapped in a tight swirl. That was the part she had gotten tangled in. Or been suffocated in.

Kylo sighs, his breath fogging despite the heavy mists around him. He draws out his saber and begins to cut the body free, being careful not to nick her out of respect for the dead.

Then, at the very end of his task when the last of the heavy fishing twine splits free from its compression on her chest, the body jerks. Jerks twice. Rapid, shuddering movements.

He immediately recoils, becoming clumsy in his shock, and now his blade pierces the edge of her skin.

The creature's eyes snap open, wide and clear and not glassy, and she starts to scream. The sound the creature is making is absolutely _bone-chilling_. Not the feral cry of a beast, but very much the scream of woman in absolute agony. Or being tortured already in hell and her body has only now caught up with the damnation of her soul.

Kylo recoils so quickly he trips on his own feet and falls to his knees in the brackish freezing water. With a cry of his own he rises and stumbles back, his saber drawn and at the ready as the creature flops over onto her side. Her screams continue, though, now only broken up by hiccuping gasps as swallowed seawater comes back out of her mouth and nose.

She curls up tight around herself, and only now does Kylo notice what's really happening to the beastie. Her tail is _changing_. The scales of it are melting off, flecking down in glittering patches to be lost to the steadily encroaching tide. The flesh underneath starts to collapse and the creature's cries take on a new level of agony.

She's literally melting in front of him. Creature of magic or not, Kylo has to put a stop to this. Put her out of her misery or he'll hear her pain-filled shrieks in his head for the rest of his days.

He takes two steps froward, sword at the ready in his now sweating and shaking hand, and the mermaid must see him through her torment. She tries to roll herself away, pushing with only her arms now that her tail has completely disintegrated to-

To legs. Human legs. Pale, but not covered in blood and gore as he'd thought.

The now no-longer mermaid finally stops her screams. She looks down at herself, apparently as surprised to see the appendages as Kylo is himself. She reaches a hand out, the skin there much more tanned than the pale flesh that has just materialized, but she immediately pulls it back from her hips as if the slightest touch was too much.

Kylo stares slack-jawed, doubting his own mind in a way he has not for many years. Such as thing as he's just witnessed truly isn't possible.

"What in all the gods _are_ you?"

He takes another step forward, and the creature looks back at him. This time there's raw fear in her eyes, the face of a frightened girl and not a dangerous monster.

That makes Kylo pause more than anything else. He stares at her and she gapes back at him just as another piece of the mystery snaps into place.

"I can't hear your thoughts. Your mind is silent to me."

It's neither a question or a statement he expects any answer to. The now girl gasps, though, and her eyes fall to the blade in his hand. She tries to push herself away, her upper body undulating against the now fist-deep waters as if she was trying to command her tail to move. Instead, her legs twist and flop uselessly, and her expression turns back to pain-filled and shocked.

"The _sand_? That's what's hurting you?!"

What a ridiculous notion, and if the impossible creature understands him she doesn't answer, just pushes backwards with her arms all the harder even though the torture of the movement is obvious.

And then they're not alone anymore. Kylo can't sense her, but he can sense _them_. Two of his Knights, distant still but approaching with resolve. No doubt coming to see why he hadn't met them at the halfway point of their mutual patrols as he always does.

There is no explanation. Not for what Kylo's just seen or why he allowed it to happen to begin with. He either needs to finish her now or… or take her back until he knows _what_ she is. Letting her go free is not an option after seeing this.

He steps forward then, reaching out with his bare hand and the girl starts to scream again. Her legs thrash, weak and uncontrolled. They're apparently quite useless to her, and Kylo silences her with his palm over her mouth before his men can hear her and the choice is taken from him.

She fights him, of course, biting and clawing, but whatever transformation has just happened has taken the edge of her dangerous nature away. He grips tighter, debating if perhaps he should try to choke her out if that's his only option, when he finds the corner of her mind.

So there _is_ a soul inside there, just hidden away quieter than any he's ever known one to be. It's enough, though, this opening into her subconscious. Like he's done many times before to others, Kylo finds that little thread that connects wake with sleep, and pulls.

Finally the creature's eyes glaze. He has to pull much harder than he normally would, so hard that darkness starts to encroach on his own vision, until he finally wins. The girl collapses, out cold and now she truly _would_ drown in the rising waters.

Kylo's already a cold, soaked through mess so picking her up is no further loss. Light. Very light. And still bleeding steadily from the wound his saber gave her shoulder, even though it was but a slight gash.

No time to ponder that, Kylo can feel his men only a few hundred paces from rounding the bend in the beach and seeing him. He turns quickly, carrying the limp merwoman or whatever being this is in his arms as he races back to the watchtower to hide her out of sight.

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Author's Note:

Don't think that I've given up on The Path that Moonbeams Make or my other WIPs! I'm still right here with you, I promise, I just need to get some words down any which way they'll come to me. I have been so terribly terribly writer blocked. I love my other stories but I just haven't been able to get any words down, it's been so hard.

ps. As always, find me on tumblr at **lost-inthesunlight** and on twitter at **Ava_Avdal** (where you can find the artwork moodboard for this story because I can't post the link directly!)


	2. A Mutual Lack of Gratitude

Kylo knew that his men would sense a lie before he even spoke it, but that didn't mean he couldn't _omit_.

He had told them the next most convenient thing: a near truth. He said that he had found a suspiciously torn piece of netting by the watchtower. He believed it had been placed there deliberately for them to find because it didn't synchronize with the tide coming in.

If his Knights had any doubts to the truth of that, they hid it well. Or perhaps they simply knew better than to question their leader to his face. Kylo sent them back on their way, waiting alone on that windswept stretch of beach for several more minutes longer than strictly necessary, and then returned to where he had hidden the mermaid girl away.

The watchtower was a re-purposed lighthouse that had been taken over by Kylo and his Knights when they'd taken over protectorship of the island. While the damp, half-ruined structure offered little for comfort, its security and privacy had lead Kylo into claiming it as his own. It was a place he knew well now, and knowing that someone else was inside it left him with a deeply uneasy feeling weighing at his mind.

When Kylo had dropped her there, he had more or less heaved the girl at an old cot in the basement of the tower before he left to speak to his men. There hadn't been any time for niceties, but he couldn't have been gone for more than twenty minutes if that much.

And yet the girl was already awake, even though his induced sleeps usually last an hour if not more. Kylo finds her there in a sad and hunched over heap of shivering flesh. She lays slumped over the bottom two steps of the staircase going down into the basement, and the empty cot where he'd placed her down on is flipped over onto it's side behind her.

The lost mermaid gives a short, terrified sounding cry when she sees him. She tries to push herself away, but her arms buckle underneath her and her legs simply flail and flop uselessly.

"It's alright,"Kylo tells her. "I'm not here to hurt you."

He has no reason to believe that a creature like this can understand him. Still, she freezes, stopping in her desperate and pointless movements to look up at him with open-eyed wonder.

Kylo grunts, realizing that he had summoned a ball of flames into his hand without thinking. He transfers the energy to a candelabra high on the wall and starts to walk down the steps towards the girl.

She immediately yelps again, pushing away harder but gaining no ground. She falls onto her back, twisting over and half rolling away in her desperation. It's a tragic sight, very much like seeing an invalid thrown from their bed, and Kylo tsks when he approaches.

"If you're going to act like this, I will need to find you some clothes."

Not only is the mermaid absolutely naked, but the damp floor of the watchtower basement is filthy. This room was normally abandoned or, on occasion, used as an armory of storeroom for his Knight's equipment. It was never meant to be flopped upon by a terrified girl who's-

Who's bleeding from a litany of new cuts Kylo knew she hadn't been sporting before.

" _Gods_."

He kneels next to her, reaching out to turn her so he can see her injuries better in the limited light. The girl shrieks again, curling up tightening around herself. There are gashes all along her legs and several on her back as. From this lower angle Kylo can see the glittering of broken glass along the floor and the pungent smell that accompanies it. When she had upturned the bed, she must have knocked over one of the bottles of wine from the rear shelves. So determined to escape had this girl been that she'd literally crawled through it to reach the stairs.

Kylo grabs her then by the shoulder, trying to turn her despite her howls. She curls ever tighter, and Kylo winces when he sees the extent of the lacerations on her legs. The skin, her _new_ skin there seemingly, must be gossamer delicate. Delicate, and now encrusted with dirt and the saltwater muck that leaks in through the walls of this basement.

Kylo lets go then, rocking back on his heels and regarding the pathetically wounded creature.

"What am I supposed to do with you now?" he barks, annoyance tightening his temper.

It's hardly a question there's an answer to. He should have let her die or killed her to begin with, never taken her back here only for her to wound herself worse than she was even before.

The fingers of Kylo's sword hand slide to the hilt of his saber. This would be the best time to do it. He should have already, but now here in the dark he could do it quickly and cleanly. Assure himself that this creature's suffering would be as brief as possible.

His palm circles around the handle, and then he pauses. One of the girl's eyes is watching him, peeping out from the web of her hair and the crook of the arm where she has curled up tightly.

It's the eye of a human. Deceptively so. Not the slitted gaze of the merfolk in their other form. Not the vicious creatures who had claimed many a villager for their dinner and caused his own Knights nearly endless grief.

She's shivering. Kylo can't find her mind- yet another bewildering facet of this being- but he doesn't have to to sense the sheer terror emanating.

This girl is naked. She's cold. She's scared. Killing her now would be pathetic, and a waste of a dangerous mystery. Kylo needs to find out what she is, and with that what sort of threat she brings with her.

The rope marks on her wrists are starting to turn an angry shade of amethyst. Probably from last night, then. Another mystery that a dead mermaid would only leave unresolved.

"No choice then, is there?"

The eye blinks. The shivering of the arm over her head sharpens as the cold of the room starts to sink in. Kylo can feel it even through his heavy layers of woolen clothes and leather boots.

"You're going to freeze to death. That would be a way I could do it, wouldn't it? Leave my sword clean but my conscience worse off."

Kylo drops his hand away from his saber, and the girl's eye follows it as it reaches for her again.

A low growl echoes. The muscles in her bare arms tense. Kylo raises an eyebrow.

"If I try to pick you up now, carry you someplace and clean your wounds, you're going to make this very hard on me, aren't you?"

He pokes at her shoulder, noticing that the wound his saber had given still is oozing blood. It should have clotted by now. Yet another strangeness.

The girl's growling grows louder in answer. She starts to uncurl her arms, her upper body hunching over and her lips curling into a sharp snarl. Truly the look of a cornered animal who's decided to stop playing dead until it's predator gives up and fight back instead.

Kylo feigns pulling back. Then, quick as he can, he lashes his hand out and raps it around the girl's forehead. Immediately she thrashes, howling and clawing at him, but Kylo closes his eyes and finds her mind. It's so muted, so hidden from him, like pushing through cold, dark waters, but he finds it nonetheless.

Then another tug, he knows how hard to make it this time, and the girl collapses bonelessly into the muck covered floor.

* * *

Kylo kept having to put her out.

Somehow, this girl, mermaid, creature, beast, kept waking up from his mental hold on her. Always at inopportune times and always so quietly he had been caught off guard until she'd started to thrash.

Two more times now he'd had to renew his sleep spell on her. That probably wasn't good for her mental wellbeing, and it was taking quite a toll on him as well. The first occasion had been at the top of the spiral staircase. Not the steps from the basement, but the long and tall ascent to the top of the lighthouse. There was no light there any longer, the northern coast to sea had become far too treacherous due to the efforts of _her_ kind for fishermen to traverse so there was no need to keep a warning on at night anymore. Kylo had carried her up there in his arms, first finding the slip of a girl to be so skinny she's felt almost weightless. By the time he'd neared the top step however, now a good hundred and twenty feet above the sea, her weight in his arms had started to make its presence known.

And then, at that perfectly opportune and precious moment, the girl had bitten him. Her teeth, human shaped but still sharp, had sunk themselves into the fleshy part between his neck and shoulder. Kylo had dropped her with a loud curse, and the feral thing had once again tried to escape and nearly sent herself spiraling to her death had Kylo not caught her by the ankles.

He'd tied her up with his cowl after putting her none too gentle back into a state of unnatural slumber.

The second time she'd surprised him it had taken a little longer for her to rise. Kylo had put her under quite deeply, much more so than he would with a normal human, but she'd deeply annoyed him with her ungratefulness and besides, his shoulder hurt. He didn't doubt there were crescent shaped imprints against his skin after her attack on his good will.

The lighthouse room was small and octagonal in design. Windows lined every wall, letting in the now mid-morning light. Kylo checked each one of them, making sure there was no was to pry them open. Luckily they had been built into the stone walls themselves and the glass of them so thick it would ave taken Kylo himself considerable effort to shatter them.

"This will have to do for you," he tells her.

The girl is still sleeping. Now that he's felt her psyche enough times, little pieces of it are starting to peep through to him. She's not dreaming. She's fitful. And she's still very scared. That's all he can tell from her, though it brings the prospect of perhaps growing that understanding of this creature's mind into something more useful.

Kylo had used this room as one of his personal spaces. His bedroom itself was downstairs, no good of having to rush down the spiraling staircase in the middle of the night if his men summoned him, but he'd rather like the bright and openness of the light room.

First, he sets aside his books and papers and calligraphy set into a wooden trunk, mindful to take the pens and any other pointed object with him but the rest could stay. Kylo lays the girl down on the only thing he has that approximates a bed: a long wooden bench along the wall farthest from the hatch down.

But would she even want a bed, though? Kylo supposes that she's used to sleeping in the ocean, probably on a bed of kelp or the like, and as delicate as her skin seems to be he doubts he has any-

The girl wakes up screaming. Very much a human woman's scream, and she falls off the bench right onto the open wounds on her back.

She kicks at Kylo as he stomps toward her. Already she seems to be developing control over her legs, or at least enough to slap and push weakly and him with her feet.

Kylo grabs her ankle again, drags her closer, and dodges her snapping teeth as he wraps his hand over her eyes temple until her eyelids fall closed.

"No bed for you, then."

Ungrateful wretch. He wonders what exactly she thinks he's trying to do to her, or maybe her mind is too animalistic in nature to think beyond the need to escape at any cost.

Now that her room was prepared, or her cell if he was to be more accurate, it was time to clean her wounds. For this Kylo secures her limbs with his cowl because it wouldn't do for her to wake up and resume her pointless flailing in the middle of him picking bits of glass out of her skin. He only has the one free garment, though, which puts him at the very uncomfortable situation of having to hogtie the naked girl's hands and ankles together.

More than once Kylo stands up from his catch to check through the windows that no unwanted guests are making their arrival. He finishes his task as quickly as he can. Most of her wounds aren't serious, though she did a good bit more than just graze or gouge her legs on that dirty floor. She'll be lucky if infection doesn't set it, but with any luck Kylo will figure out what to do with her before that's his problem to deal with.

The wound on her arm, though, continues to bleed. It's been close to two hours now, and still little beads of crimson leak from it as Kylo inspects the damage. It just a small cut, but Kylo can feel the power of his own magic tainting the mark. It's as if this mermaid has somehow absorbed part of the energy of his saber, and is no having the most unexplainable reaction to it.

There were people he could ask. Maz, the old medicine woman in the village, might know. Perhaps some of his Knights, they each had their own unique knowledges they brought with them from the homeland. Neither of those options Kylo could consult without raisin questions, so the best he can do now is slice of a strip from his own cowl and wrap the girl's arm up with that.

"Fate had better pay me back kindly for taking care of you like this. Without me you'd be dead by now and we'd both be all the better for it."

For the third time the girl wakes again. Her back is to him and he can't see her face, but he can sense the jolt of shock that races through her and brings her back to the world of the living.

Her confusion is dizzying, and Kylo retreats from the edges of her mind to watch her reaction. Surprisingly she doesn't start to scream or flail. Perhaps because she can't see him watching her. Instead a long stretch of silence falls, broken only by a reedy sounding gasp from the girl.

It's not until her shoulders start to jump and her head falls heavily against the wooden floorboards that Kylo realizes she's crying. Crying softly and starting down at her still bound wrists.

"Oh."

The girls immediately still at the sound of his voice. Kylo grimaces, both wanting to understand the deeper nature of her fear but also very much preferring not to.

This time he doesn't hesitate to move over her and untie her. The girl doesn't struggle like he'd expected her to. Instead, she fallsAs always, you can find ME on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and on twitter at Ava_Avdal :) completely slack until the moment her limbs are freed. Then she curls up around herself again, wrapping her body up as tight as she can with her arms and pulling her knees into her chest.

Kylo stands up and regarding first the girl then the cowl in his hands. This tower room is the warmest part of the watchtower, but even still that's not saying much.

"Warmer than an ocean grave," he tells her. "Here, have this. It's torn and no good to me any more."

He drapes his cowl over her like a blanket, finding himself no longer able to stomach the sight of the naked girl shivering. From cold or from fear I doesn't matter, at least now he doesn't ave to look at her.

Then he leaves, hurrying down the hatch and checking more than once that it's properly latched and bolted behind him.

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author's note:

If you're wondering, I'm basing the setting of this story on some sort of King Arthur-esque fantasy sword and sorcery set in a land that looks remarkably like the coast of Scotland. Scotland with magic. Yes. That's the place.

As always, you can find ME on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and on twitter at Ava_Avdal :)

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comment replies:

Czokolate: Love your name by the way, I _think_ I get it! I'm glad you liked this first chapter! I'm not sure how long this story will be, but let's just see what happens! I'm really enjoying writing it now and I hope you like ch2 as well! Thanks so much for commenting : )


	3. More Clever than She Looks

The mermaid pack had chased them into the deep waters.

Kylo suddenly remembered why he hated their kind. Now, seeing them here in their true from, he was reminded that they truly were ferocious things. Beasts made of sinew and claws and teeth so sharp their could easily sever a regular human's bones right in half if one should be so unlucky to be caught out in the waters when they were close.

Good thing Kylo and his men weren't regular humans.

He and two of his Knights held their own again the pack of the four monsters. The beasts kept trying to capsize their ship, but the powers of the Force kept them back. It was hardly a fair fight from the start with even the sea churning high over the bow and threatening to end finish the task on its own.

And still, Kylo and his Knights prevailed as they always did. One of the monsters, probably the leader of the pack, had gotten too bold and stuck its head out of the water to try and drag Kylo down to the depths with his teeth. His head hadn't remained attached to its shoulders for long.

The three remaining merfolk had retreated then, churning up the waters even further in their fury. One of Kylo's Knights, Aemon who carried with him both the Force of magic and a natural affinity for manipulating the weather, had calmed the waves enough for them to steer their vessel back to shore and secure it against the upcoming storm.

"They're getting bolder," Taleisin, his other Knight, commented. "They never used to come this close. Never would attack us for simply being out there unless we were trying to steal their hunt from them."

Kylo simply grunts in answer. Years ago the merfolk had been more of an issue, but as of recent they had mostly retreated to the far depths of the ocean. Something unknown must have happened to stir the old conflict up again.

"There's been a change," Aemon agrees, following the same line of logic Kylo had chased himself. "To do with that netting you found, perhaps? On it's own such a thing wouldn't be unusual but with the timing you observed-"

"We will keep all facets in mind," Kylo interrupts, "but no use in wasting ourselves to speculation. Let's all remain focused, observant, and ever vigilant. Now go and tell the other Knights what's happened. We've slain one of the worst ones, but now the rest of them will be out for revenge."

He dismisses him men quickly, not wanting to give any time for the adrenaline of the moment to fade and possibly reveal the underlying secret that had been nagging at Kylo's mind.

His Knights are nothing if not well-trained, and they take their leader cue and leave to complete their new order.

Kylo frowns at the ocean and the deeper clouds looming above it. On a different day he would normally stay out longer to keep watch for any foolish fishermen who wanted to try their luck and risk their life. Today, however, they were on their own. Kylo has a very different obligation waiting for him at the watchtower.

A mystery he needed to solve. A situation he needed to have done and dealt with.

Best get on with it then.

* * *

By the time Kylo had trudged back to the watchtower, he was soaked through and his leather clothes squeaked with every step. In short he was more than ready to shut the whole world out and recover from the day's struggles alone.

Pity that he wasn't.

He felt the girl's presence before he saw her. It was a rather odd feeling, manifesting itself as something deeper in his mind than a normal human or his Knights. Stranger still was that he could hear it at all now, but the sound lead him straight to her nonetheless.

She- the girl, the mermaid, the aberration- was still in his tower. That was the good news. All the rest was very bad though, because somehow she had both reopened many of her wounds _and_ had gotten out of her room.

Kylo finds her about twenty steps up from the bottom of the spiral staircase to the lighthouse room where he'd locked her. And he had absolutely made sure that he'd locked her, but when he looks up high above her started, wide-eyed face, he can see the honey colored afternoon light spilling in from the open door.

"How the bloody hell did you even do that?!"

He stomps forward, not expecting any answer and only feeling his heart rate spike when he takes in the fresh bruises and once-more bloody gashes that cover the girl's poor limbs.

His target hisses in response, but it's very much a defensive noise. She scuffles back away from him, crawling backwards up the steps on arms that are shaking so badly her whole body trembles. The lower half of her body is both propelled and held back by her legs which move spastically and buckle underneath her more often than not.

Kylo takes the steps three at a time- they were always on the short side for his stride anyhow- and seizes the girl under her arms before she sends herself plummeting down the steps.

She bites him. Hard. Hard enough that Kylo can see the short muscles in her jaw tightening with the movement as she tries to sink her teeth through the flesh of his wrist.

He snorts and heaves her up off her feet.

"Try that again when I'm not wearing gloves, m'Lady. You might find it to be a more effective defense."

M'Lady is an odd choice of word and it sits strangely on Kylo's mind, but the only other option had been 'beastie' which seems rather inappropriate given the fleshy, naked human display he's currently hauling back up the steps.

The girl-creature growls, apparently figuring out her only folly, and again begins the trashing in his grip. Kylo had expected that, though her attempts to kick him in the stomach and more sensitive areas wear on his nerves by the time he reaches the top landing.

"I see your legs are developing in nicely," he comments as he kicks the door open fully ajar.

Inside the room is in a predictable state of being tossed and turned, and Kylo immediately discovers the culprit to her escape. He had left a metal picture frame up there with some of his painting and calligraphy supplies. The conceited part of his mind had once thought perhaps he might paint a picture worth framing, but now this creature had broken it for him before he could make use of it. In fact, half of it is still wedged in the doorjamb, having been used to pry the drawbar up so she could get out.

"Clever little beast."

The bench that had been her bed had of course been overturned, so Kylo sets mermaid down on the floor with perhaps a bit more downward force than truly necessary.

He had expected her to immediately make a run, or crawling limp more accurately, for the exit. Or maybe to try and hide herself in a corner of the sparsely furnished room like a cat hiding from its owner.

Instead, the girl wastes no time. Unworkable legs or not, she lunges herself at him the moment her bare backside hits the wooden planks of the floor.

She tackles Kylo's legs, knocking him off balance and together they tumble down. She scrabbles at him, hissing and growling as her hands try to claw out his eyes. Lucky for Kylo her human nails are far from suited for the task, and he quickly manages to subdue her wrists before he takes more than a few scratches along his forehead that he'll have to explain to his men.

"I fell and got tangled in a particularly _nasty_ piece of seaweed. That's what I'll tell them."

Kylo tries to roll the girl under him, but to her credit she's far stronger than her frail limbs would lead to belief. Her growls take on a more panicked undertone as he tries and mostly succeeds in overpowering her. They fumble about, rolling and kicking and jerking their way from one side of the lightroom to the other as the feral beast struggles to either flee from him or kill him or both.

Then one of her uncoordinated knees catches him right between the legs and it's Kylo's turn to howl.

For a second the girl's eyes widen, abrupt fear and surprise shooting across her face. Then she struggles harder still, bucking him off her as she twists onto her stomach and starts to crawl towards the open door.

"Enough!" Kylo shouts.

He grabs her by the ankle, dragging her back and sinking his other hand into her messy tangle of brown hair. Then he sits on her, pinning her torso in place with his bodyweight.

He knows it's going to be hard for her to breathe like this. That's exactly the point. Between his weight and the hand in her hair pulling her head back it's as effective a restraint as if he'd pulled the scruff of an unruly kitten's neck.

A minute of rapidly weakening struggles goes by. Maybe less, but it feels like forever until the mermaid finally falls slack underneath him, her eyes starting to roll back in her head and her arms falling limply to the sides.

The slight blue tinge to her lips confirms that she really can't breathe properly, but Kylo gives her a few more moment to calm down before he pushes himself off.

" _There_."

He crouches beside her, just far enough to be out of the range of her teeth but still close to easily subdue if there's to be another round.

"Have you made your point, yet? You're angry with me. I understand that. It's _understandable_."

Slowly, the girl recoils from under him. She scoots backwards, drawing her legs up to her torso like a spider curling around itself. Kylo clears his throat and looks away before standing up. Mermaid without a tail or not, her pose was decidedly _indelicate_.

He takes a few steps back. She eyes him warily, bringing them to a draw. Incrementally her shoulders start to relax as she apparently decides that he's not about to do whatever it was she thought he was trying to do to her.

Then she huffs and leans her back against the wall behind her. She rubs her wrists with her palms, and Kylo frowns when he sees the reddish blue bruises there. He must have aggravated her injury when they were wrestling.

 _He's trying to kill me._

Kylo had been glaring out of one of the many windows rather than look at her, but as soon as the thought shines crystal clear into his mind he spins around again to gape at the girl.

She'd said that into his head. Or at least she'd thought it loud and clear enough that he could hear it himself. The words were not words per se, but rather instinctive the meaning behind them.

"You can understand me?"

He steps closer and the girl cringes. Something sweeps along Kylo's mind, pulling away from it. Something that he hadn't even realized was there until it was gone.

For a brief moment, she'd been in his head and he hadn't even realized it.

Merfolk were magical creature by nature, that was what made them both so feared and hunted. Never had Kylo even come close to sensing one that could wield their energy in the way this girl had just done.

 _I'm not going to hurt you._

He tries to push it into the girl's mind, following the same pathways that he'd used to put her to sleep before.

No answer, but Kylo could almost swear that he saw her flinch.

Maybe she can sense the lie of it, then? Because only a few hours at best had gone by since he'd planned on dispatching her life with his own blade.

 _What are you?_

He tries to press the question just like the other, but this time he encounters the same void of nothingness that he had first experienced from her. Not a lack of sentience or life, but rather a lack of anything at all.

"Back to square one, then."

Kylo turns from to the girl to straighten up the room while he waits to see if she'll attack him again. She doesn't. When he finishes correcting her bed, he's staring at a one of her feet and poking at a new cut on it with the same fingernails she had recently tried to maim him with.

Kylo opens his mouth, then sighs and closes it.

"You wouldn't listen to me, anyhow. Are you hungry? I'm absolutely starving after dealing with your own retched kind."

No response. A pout on the girl's human lips, and then a furrowing of her brow as she regards her now blood-specked fingertips. At this rate Kylo won't have to worry about finishing the girl off, she's well on the way to that herself.

This time when he leaves, he padlocks the door behind him and hopes that _that_ will be enough to keep the mermaid inside until he can figure out what in the hells to do with her.

* * *

author's note:

As always, find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and on twitter at Ava_Avdal : )

Comment replies:

Czokolate - I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far! Thanks for commenting again on ch2! : )


	4. Baby Steps, Hers and His

Now that Kylo knows what the girl's mind feels like, he can't stop hearing her.

Oh she's silent alright. Silent as the watery grave he'd pulled her out from. But her presence is there right above him nonetheless. That void. Its silence pulls him in just as surely as as any bright and loud human's mind ever would, but hers is for all its subtlety that truly draws Kylo's curiosity to a peak.

After their hostile encounter upstairs, Kylo had left the girl to her own devices -whatever those may be- and went back down. He had made a fire as much for his own sake as for the health and comfort of the buck naked merwoman who would only benefit from the updraft of the chimney that flowed next to her room. Hopefully she was sentient enough not to burn herself on it, but some things Kylo is resigned to her just having to figure out on her own.

The fire was made, afternoon was progressing to evening, and Kylo tried to read. _Tried_ to. That same void of a presence was deafening, at it made his attempts to research her situation all the more challenging.

He had started off with going over the tales from fishermen who had encountered the merfolk and lived. There were scant few of them and little of value was to be found there that Kylo didn't already know himself. Absolutely nothing alluding to one of the beast being able to _transform_ itself.

Dead end. Next had been the tomes of mythology. Heavy, dense, books full of theories, theologies, and ancient history. Some good may have been had there, except these tomes had been written in the Old Language. It made for a challenging read under the best circumstances. The girl wasn't making this the best circumstances.

She was up to something. Kylo could sense it. Feel her frustration and panic slowly change to an emotion he could only describe as 'raw cunning'. Oh the fury was still there, and a very angry and disagreeable period had come and passed where she had rattled the door nearly off its hinges. That was when Kylo had been making the fire, but then as the space had begun to warm up she had quieted down and her inky nothingness had subdued back into obscurity.

Then there was the silence. She had been quiet for far too long, and now Kylo can't stop himself from constantly trying to peep into her evasive mind. It's like holding onto an eel in dark waters, he catches a wisp of it and then she slips away. Frustrating. Difficult. Admittedly intriguing.

She doesn't understand where she is or what's happening. Kylo had figured that much just from watching her with his eyes. Her mind however revealed an odd mix of both rational thoughts and instinctual feelings he couldn't begin to comprehend.

So what was she, then? Something half human, half not. She looked like a human. She looked _very much_ like a human. She didn't act like a mermaid. Oh, she'd bite and scratch just like one, but Kylo had fought enough to know that their mind was a feral, chaotic thing of rage where this half-girl's was… off.

So, really, what was she?

Gods, that was the question he'd been asking himself all day. A question with an answer right upstairs.

Kylo closes the book. It snaps shuts with a cloud of ancient dust. A visual metaphor of the futility of his search for an answer.

Oh wait, that wasn't right. He hadn't found _anything_. Not a single word. Surely the absence of information counts for something, right? Right. It meant he'd just wasted a few precious hours which he could have spent being useful instead.

"Dinner. Food for thought. That's what I need, and maybe you're hungry too?"

Talking to himself was an old habit, but something he was acutely careful to only do when he was alone. Even though the girl could neither hear him from her tower or understand him if she did, her presence alone was enough to remind Kylo he was being a very poor host in more ways than one.

"What does a mermaid eat?" he wonders, standing up and cracking his back from sitting for so long. "Fish I suppose. Seaweed? Maybe?"

Out in the wild, the merfolk would hunt the big game of the ocean together in packs. Usually there was only little overlap with the fishermen who would leave the sharks and orca alone in search of a more manageable catch. Kylo had no idea if the merfolk diet extended further but, as skinny as the girl was, he hoped she wouldn't be too picky.

"Don't like it, you can go hungry."

Herring preserved in brine and boiled root vegetables. It's what Kylo would normally eat himself, and so that's what she'll get. As the potatoes and carrots boil, he starts preparing a few other things to take upstairs. Nothing sharp or too wieldy, of course, but since he fully intends to keep the girl locked up until he can figure out what to do with her, there are certain needs of hers he has to address.

"Even the lowest prisoners get water. You'll need that."

Two wooden bucks, one of which he fills with clean drinking water and he hangs a metal cup off the side. She may figure out how to use it, maybe not. Either way it wasn't heavy enough to do any real damage.

"Now for the other detail."

The other bucker is empty and- well, hopefully the girl is housebroken and will figure out what that one's for. Kylo eyes the prospects of the next day with a grimace, but there's nothing to be done for it. He can't hardly bring her down kicking and biting and screaming to use the outhouse behind the tower.

A vague notion enters his mind at that. One that maybe soon he'll be able to reason with her. To reach her mind and convince her without words that it really is for her own good to stay here where she's safe from both his men and whoever did whatever they did to her. If he can convince of this, both of their experiences of each other will be greatly improved.

"Clothes. You're going to get cold, especially if I have to be gone for a while and the fire goes out."

All Kylo can offer her is a tunic of his own and another cowl. There were only two female members of his Knights, and they both dressed as men. They kept their spare armor here, but nothing even remotely suitable for a waif of a girl with a vendetta to wear.

"If you're still here in a few day's time, I'll get something in town. Some shift dress or the like of that."

Another log on the fire and Kylo realizes that he's both keeping the place warmer than he normally would, and also very much delaying the forthcoming encounter. he's had rather enough of wrestling with violent mermaids for the day, thank you, but hopefully the girl has exhausted herself by now.

He takes the food, clothes, and provision, and trudges up the steps with a heavy footfall. Let the girl know he's coming. Let her plan her ambush. No good ever comes from surprising a wild animal.

Kylo unlocks the door himself but opens it with the power of the Force. He fully expects to be toppled by a naked flurry of limbs and claws. Maybe the wretched beast will spill her dinner all over him, and she won't get another, that's for certain.

Instead, the room is quiet. _Too_ quiet. Kylo narrows his eyes and reaches out with his mind.

Anger. Insolence.

 _Go away._

Ah, there she is. Her mind ferrets away so fast, but he'd caught it. He'd caught her message to him.

"I brought you food and drink. You're welcome."

Kylo steps inside, kicking the door behind him. The girl is at the far side of the room, and she's awkwardly perched at the sill of one of the many windows that open up along the walls of the lighthouse. In the evening sun, she's creating a silhouette. One that could be seen from outside, if someone were looking.

"We'll have to do something about that," he says, setting the various gifts in his arms down on the wooden table. "I can feel my men coming, but that does me no good if I'm away and not here. Curtains at least. I wish I could trust you to behave better."

The girl cocks her head. It looks like she's really listening to him, and Kylo almost cracks a smile at her attentiveness. Then he takes a step toward her, offered plate of food in hand, and her grip on the window edge falters. She stumbles, collapsing to her knees in a very inelegant heap.

"You were trying to stand. That's what you were doing over there."

The merwoman blinks. She has the nerve to look a little offended at Kylo's surprised tone, as if _of course_ she was trying to stand, what else would she have been doing?

Kylo reaches forward, attempting to offer her a hand, but she immediately recoils. She crawls away then, dragging herself along the floor by the power of her arms alone until Kylo sighs and withdraws.

"You're going to tear open your wounds like that, you know that, right?"

Already he can see fresh blood and bruises along her legs. They're painful to look at, and Kylo can't stop the inner pang of feeling that he was somehow accomplice to her latest round of injuries.

So he makes a show of stepping back. Of giving the feral, wild thing plenty of space. He sets the buckets down, with the empty one in the far corner and the water bucket in the middle of the room. He splashes his hand through it and her chin picks up, her eyes following the movement.

"Thirsty? You haven't drunk anything all day long."

He unhooks the cup from the edge of the bucket and fills it with the water. Then he raises it and pours it back in from a distance, letting the girl see it flow out. She presses her lips together, her eyes widening.

But she doesn't move. She stays there, hunched and as far from him as she can.

Kylo reaches to her mind, and pushes hard. She flinches back, shoving him out, but not before he catches the real concern that's keeping her away.

"You think this is a trick? That I'm just taunting you and will take this away?"

That's it. That's what she's thinking. Someone had done that to her. She had been very hungry and thirsty and Kylo could almost feel the stinging bite of metal around his wrists cutting into flesh that had been rubbed raw from trying to get away.

 _Someone had done that to her._ The knowledge brings with it a swell of emotion. Feelings that aren't his own, but still so familiar at the same time.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly.

He had only wanted to coax her close her, not torment her.

So he pours the glass again and places it halfway between them. A halfway that favors his side slightly more, but he waits to see what she'll do.

The girl -he'll need to name her soon, won't he?- waits. Waits and doesn't move. Kylo matches her, staying as tall and motionless as he can. Slowly, carefully, with tentative hesitancy, she shifts forward. She's crawling on her hands and knees now, he notes. Already her legs are becoming part of her sense of self. Interesting.

Her hand reaches for the glass. Kylo waits. She looks up at him.

"Do you want me to drink some first? Go on, then, I'm losing patience."

It's very much like tempting a stray cat or dog. Give them little bits of encouragement. Show them that it's safe. Show _her_ that whatever she thinks he's trying to do, truthfully he's just trying to get her to give him even a modicum of trust.

The girl finally gives in and takes the cup. She fumbles with it, some of the water sloshing over and she squeaks as it does. Then she forms a bowl with the palm of her other hand and pours the water from the cup into that to drink out of face-first. It's a bizarre sight, and as a proof of good intentions Kylo brings the whole bucket closer. She doesn't recoil as far then, he notes again, but there's an angry sidelong glare to her face as she tips the bucket toward her a little and drinks from the edge.

A warning. That's what that pissy expression is. Come and try and take this from me, see what happens.

"I'd worry about losing a finger, m'lady, but I'm afraid I'm rather attached to them."

It's a lame joke even to Kylo's ears. Luckily the girl only looks at him blankly, the nuances of his terrible humor escaping her completely.

"Lucky you. Hungry? You're probably hungry. Have some."

He sets the plate down close to him. Close as in within arms reach. And he squats there, waiting for her. This she doesn't like. This time the feral cat's not taking the bait.

"Alright then, have it your way."

He picks up a wedge of boiled potato and eats it himself. It's undercooked and bland. Completely undeserving of the rather loud 'mhmm' he makes in false appreciation.

Her lip curls back, bearing her teeth.

"You want to take this from me, don't you?"

This time he goes for a piece of fish. Her face darkens. More teeth. A hint of a growl.

Kylo pops the fish in his mouth. It's… briny. Unpleasantly so, because he didn't prepare it correctly, but perhaps it will remind her of the ocean?

Then, with the tip of his index finger, he nudges the plate further form himself and closer to her.

The girls edges closer, just a little. Her arm extends to its furthest reach. Kylo shakes his head at her, his lips fighting the urge to break out into a lopsided grin. She ignores the potatoes with a frown and goes right for the fish.

"Would you prefer it raw? I could arrange that next time."

Whether she would or not is immaterial to the crinkle-nosed, head shaking frown she makes when she first tries the salty, cured fish.

"It's an acquired taste, I suppose," Kylo says with a laugh. "Try the rest of it, you may like it better."

Her eyes flick up. Eyebrows raised. She's listening, but not comprehending.

So Kylo tries something different. He closes his eyes, risking putting himself in harms way should his captive decide to make a play for him, and he reaches out with his mind. He pushes an image of her eating into her psyche. Visualizes her trying it and not hating his mediocre cooking abilities as much as she necessarily could.

He's not sure he's making a connection. That void mind of hers. It's like shouting into an abyss. No echo, just putting it out there and seeing if anything comes of it.

Then, when he opens his eyes, she's nibbling at a carrot with an expression of deep consternation. He's not going to ask how it is, no need for that. But he still smiles when she draws the plate toward her, her movements accepting but less than what could be called enthusiastic.

"Alright, criticism noted. I'll try to do something better for breakfast."

He leaves her to her meal to finish up the last order of the day: her clothes. Or his clothes, technically, but gods be damned if Kylo doesn't have a clue how too put her in them without undoing the tiny thread of trust he may have bought himself by feeding her. If he got too close, she'd either flee or fight and that would get neither of them anywhere. If he tried to put her under a sleep spell… well, he probably could, but doing so many so soon could hardly be good for her.

"Are you cold? It's actually rather warm up here, but it won't be forever. When I go to bed you'll need something."

She had summarily ignored the bed from before in favor of wadding up the torn remnants of his cowl underneath it. If Kylo squints, he can almost picture her making a kelp bed for herself on an ocean shelf somewhere deep beneath the waves.

He places the two pieces of clothing on top of it, making her a somewhat warmer nest. It will have to do, until he can convince her to wear the damn things.

The girl is still picking over her food, apparently finding the undercooked potatoes the greatest offender to her sensibilities but even those are getting a scowlish nibble as she works her way around the plate.

Kylo watches her for a minute. He studies the details of her face and the excessively accurate shape of her body. Whatever she is, she's a hell of a forgery.

He clears his throat, and the girl looks up at him. Perhaps there's less of an angry glint to her eyes then before, or maybe that's just his vanity playing tricks on him.

"Goodnight, m'lady," he says.

Then he leaves, eager to both put some distance between him and his prisoner and to put another log on the fire.


	5. They Make it Look So Easy

The Girl was going to need a name.

Kylo had stumbled upon that revelation when he'd gone up to check on her. It was night now and he had brought with him just a single candle out of concern that she would misuse a candelabra on the backside of his head if presented the chance.

Her tower room was pitch black on this heavily cloudy night, but with the aid of the Force Kylo quickly identified that girl-shaped pool of nothingness that he's come to seek out with his mind. She had rejected all his efforts to make her a half-proper bed, and instead had curled up in the furthest corner of the octagonal room from the entrance hatch.

"So how are you settling in?" he asks.

No answer, hiss or growl or otherwise. He brings the candle closer and a single eye, narrowed with suspicion, glares back at him. She has completely encased herself in the bedding and clothing he has provided for her, and for all the world could have been mistaken for a piece of sea debris washed up on the shore.

"You look uncomfortable."

The eye doesn't blink or waver.

Kylo sighs. Brings the light closer. Reaches out to pull the black cowl - _his_ black cowl- away from the rest of her face.

And then comes the growl. The warning with the intention of readying herself. Something about biting off the approaches fingers.

Kylo retracts his ungloved hand and returns the glare he's receiving.

" _Note_ _d_. Though that's hardly a kind way to be treating the man who saved you from death, took you back home, and made you dinner. Perhaps an inkling of gratitude may be in order, M'lady."

And there it is. This is no lady he's dealing with. Naming her seems like a risky necessity.

"I'll have to think of a good one," he promises, "don't worry."

A name to do with the ocean, perhaps. Or maybe the opposite and name her after the land or sun.

He pokes again at the girl's mind. Her own kind must have called her by something, but whatever it is remains a mystery. He pushes harder and the singular eye narrows.

Fine then. Be that way.

A blink. That's all he gets for his efforts.

"Well goodnight to you as well."

Kylo leaves, bracing himself for what he hopes won't be a very restless night.

* * *

"This would be so much easier if you'd just give me your hand and let me hold you up."

The girl, still named, looked almost offended. She swatted away Kylo's gloved hand with a now very familiar growl and attempted once more to stand up on her own. Kylo crosses his arms then, shaking his head at a display that was equal parts comical, pathetic, and rather annoying.

She kept trying to push herself up, practically sliding vertically along the wall until her arms couldn't hold her anymore. Then she'd collapse, legs folding under her spider-style. Her back would scrape against the wall, prompting a whimper from her and a wince from Kylo who knew the extent of her injuries there.

She'd apparently been doing this all night. Kylo was sleeping down below, strategically placing himself in a cot near the door so he could hear if she managed a successful breakout. He'd been treated more than once to the sound of her body clobbering itself to the floor. At the time he'd assumed she'd been trying to escape or perhaps smashing his simple possessions in a fit, but apparently she was endeavoring to do something far more industrious.

And now, on her third failed attempt in front of him, there was a streak of red left behind on the brickwork. Kylo's patience snapped.

" _Let. Me. Help._ "

He pushed the words alongside a coercive impulse. He could sway the girl's mind, that was how he could put her under the day before, but gods was she difficult about it. About many things, in fact, least of all her refusal to let him go near her.

This time his efforts are enough to make her pause, and she looks up at him with a slightly dazed expression. Kylo wastes no time and descends, snatching her up off the floor with a grip under her armpits.

She shrieks then, yowling like a cat with its tail stuck in a door. Her hands lash out, trying to claw at his face but her tantrum falls quiet when he augments his own strength with the Force to lift her feet off the ground. Now, with her legs dangling in mid-air, he catches the renewal of her fear.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm trying to help you."

He places her weight down and shifts his grip to hold her wrists firmly and at arm's length. She immediately collapses, but he catches her before she falls and stands her back up.

"Find your balance. You have to be able to stand before you can walk."

He feels like he's talking to a child. The way the girl's legs tremble is exactly that of a newborn colt. And she glares and pouts and snarls just like any wild creature having a tantrum in his arms.

But she _does_ seem to get the concept. After a few failed attempts they finally get her to the point that she can stand shakily on her own.

He backs away then. The girl now seems frozen in place, as if she's scared to move and undo all her hard work.

Kylo can't help but smile, feeling oddly proud of this bizarre moment he's just taken part in.

"Pretty soon you're going to be able to run from me and I'll greatly regret this moment, won't I?"

The girl shifts, nearly collapses, then catches herself. There's a certain sway to her bosom that accompanies the movements, and Kylo once again debates how much of a fight she'll give him if he tries to put her in clothes.

"This is very inappropriate, you know that right? If anyone were to see me with a naked girl locked up in my tower I would be hard pressed to come up with an explanation."

It's morning now and soon he'll have to leave and meet his Knights. Otherwise, if he doesn't, they'll come _here_ to find him. That would be problematic.

"Come on, let's hurry up with this. Take a step."

Kylo beckons her toward him. When she doesn't move he steps closer, reaching out and letting his hands hover in the space between them. She doesn't immediately recoil, and he takes that as a sign of progress. That and she hasn't tried to bite him once in the last hour.

"It's been nearly twenty-four hours now since I found you. Very nearly. That means I must go soon and you must make more of an effort."

He pushes an image of her walking into her mind. Tries to show her one foot in front of the other. She pushes right back. Shoves him out of her mind like she knew he was in there.

It's Kylo's turn to blink dumbly at her. Did she really just do that?

"Impressive," he says after a long moment. "Try this instead."

He throws another image at her. This time one of her eating. Now that gets her attention. Her chin lifts up then, rising from the rather sulky scowl she'd been giving him.

Kylo reaches out again, opening and closing his fingers against his palms. Her lips push forward, pouting. She was not an unattractive woman, far from it, but Kylo resolutely refuses to even begin to acknowledge that line of thought.

"Walk to me a few steps. Just the one, if that's all you can. Do that and I'll feed you."

For some reason this is very important to him. Kylo has long ago stopped pondering the deeper parts of his own psyche, too many impulses and emotions he's buried to the point of obscurity, but this strange need to see this slip of a not-human girl take her first steps was extremely insistent.

The girl stands a little straighter. She had been stooping before, her knees buckling inward, but the wordless promise of food seemed to give her new resolve. That, and Kylo assumes she was tired of dragging herself across the floor all the time.

She takes a step. Immediately starts to fall and her other leg sort of lurches forward. She collapses then, falling to her hands and knees now two paces closer than she had started.

And when she looks up at him there's something that could almost be the start of a very human smile on her face.

Kylo purses his lips and nods.

"Very good. Now practice that a thousand and one more times and you'll be ready to make a proper getaway from me."

She won't get far, but that's not the point.

The girl waits, her fingers tapping against the floor. She's waiting to see if he's going to make good on his promise.

Finally, Kylo lets himself smile.

"Alright, but I can't guarantee you'll like it. In fact, I can almost guarantee you _won't_."

His cooking wasn't that bad, was it? Perhaps. But it's time for him to leave and he hurries downstairs to reheat the leftovers from dinner last night. Since she'd been good and had only thought _briefly_ about cannibalizing him, maybe he'll throw in a sweet biscuit alongside.

Then it will be off to a busy day of protecting the humans on the island from the rest of her kind.

* * *

Author's Note:

So how do you think Kylo should go about picking her name? And he also really needs to get her to put some clothes on. IMO I've always seen him as quite the prude and having this gangly butt-naked woman flopping around, limbs all akimbo, is offending his delicate sensibilities.

But progress is being made with them! Kylo's onto something with feeding her. A feral half-mermaid with a mouthful of food is a feral half-mermaid who can't currently bite him. Something to think about there, Kylo!


	6. With Her Fingers Trapped in the Jam Jar

Kylo had to be very careful with hiding his thoughts around his Knights.

Under all normal circumstances were their minds to be an open book to each other. It was essential in battle, with the sharing of a thought so much faster and more effective than the angry bark of a command in the midst of things. Having this wordless connection had saved not only his men's life but his own on more than one occasion.

Except now Kylo has to hide the truth from one of them, and that rankles him deeply. His men trusted him implicitly, and he trusted them. Just not with this.

Not with the girl. Not until he knew what she was and what would have to be done with her.

"You seem perturbed today, Leader. Why?"

Ria was one of his female knights, and she was greatly observant. Any one of them however, could and surely had noticed that he held a rather odd disposition today.

"Something is amiss," he tells her as they work their way through the busy village streets, "I don't know what it is yet, but I can feel it. There is a disturbance in the Force and it is of growing concern to me."

Ria doesn't answer, but her hooded head nods. He can feel the eave of her presence in his mind passing through, and he brings up the vicious fight he and two of the others had held with the mermaids the day before.

"They have been very riled up recently," she agrees, "very bold."

"Too bold. So let's be quick and get back to our posts. You go to the blacksmiths and put in the order for our metalwork. Your armor needed repairs did it not?"

The darkly wrapped head nods again. Ria's face was covered in the style of the east and she was a large woman, taller and broader than many of the male knights. Swaddled as she is there's only a few in the village who knows her real gender. Precisely the way she likes to keep it, and that makes her dealing with the blacksmith herself a very convenient and authentic excuse to get rid of her for a few minutes.

When Kylo's alone in the market he hurries to put in the other orders. Making requests for the food and equipment and routine supplies that his Knights will need. They never have to pay for it; all of these are part of the villagers debt to them for keeping them and their shores safe.

Then comes the awkward part of Kylo's visit. He will need to buy the mermaid girl clothes. Clothing that he has no idea will fit, she'll like, or won't attract undue attention to his purchasing.

That last part gives him pause, but when he reaches the tailor an idea forms. He barks at the man, demanding far more brusquely than he normally would to be served in private. The other customers scurry away, and he orders the visibly cowed tailor to prepare him a replacement to his cowl. No need to explain that it had gotten torn, the man hastens to nod and disappears into the back of his shop where all the specialty fabrics are kept.

Giving Kylo a few moments to find what he's looking for on his own. There are skeins of loose fabric laying around, and he slips off one of his gloves to test the softness of them. The girl's skin rips like wet paper, anything too rough and he knows he won't have a prayer in getting her to keep it on for more than a moment.

Then a simply dress hanging with other garments for sale on a railing catches his attention. It's a sheath-like garment, loose and very light. Soft though, and with a few embellishments that catch the eye. Something slightly nicer than a common peasant's dress, and inappropriate enough for the advancing season that Kylo assumes its presence won't go missed for a while.

He natches the garment and tucks it away with the other provisions he'd been gathering from this expedition.

 _That_ was the easy part, he knows. Getting the feral girl to actually wear it will be far more complicated.

* * *

"Where in all the hells did you go off to?!"

Kylo slams the front door to the watchtower closed behind him, his anger ratcheting up sharply up seeing the girl's bedroom door high above him open and afternoon light spilling in.

She had gotten out. Somehow, despite every precaution he had taken and her own bodily limitations, she had gotten out.

No dead girl lay crumpled at the bottom of the stairs. Somehow she had crawled down or-

Or someone had been in here and taken her.

The thought brings a twist on panic to mingle with his anger. For a moment all he can do is think, race his mind through his not insubstantial list of enemies for which one of them would _dare_ to be so bold as to enter his private sanctum and steal from him.

And then he feels her. Her nothingness, but now as he's become more familiar it's a nothingness tinged with something unknown. A unique signature, and its coming from one of the lower rooms of the tower.

"Oh bloody hell, are you in my kitchen?"

He stomps across the floor, determined to look as forbidding as he possibly can despite the slightly humorous realization. _Of course_ that's where the girl would go. She probably made a try to open the front door, but Kylo had thoroughly barred that from the outside. Then, judging by the more often than not tipped over or disturbed piece o furniture, she had made her unsteady way over to the source of her mealtimes.

"You."

Kylo glares down at the girl. She glares right back, her lips pulling away from her teeth as she bares them at him.

The corners of Kylo's lips twitch up. She's a mess. Somehow she had gotten into the jam pot and now she's covered with it. The effect rather takes some of the threat out of the low, angry sounding hiss she makes as he approaches.

"Jam, bread, and bits of last night's dinner. Gods, you've really been a pig while I was away, haven't you?"

The food is even matted into her hair, and she coots away from him leaving a messy trail of crumbs behind.

"Your knees are bruised," he points at them with a flick of his finger and she holds the pot closer to her chest. "I take it you feel several times on your way down? Lucky you didn't break your foolish neck, m'lady."

If there ever was a time she looked less ladylike it was now, as she starts to rebelliously scoop jam up by the handful and shovel it into her mouth. Her eyes dare him. Double dare him. Challenge him to just try and take away her sweet treat.

"I take it your legs are becoming more useful to you? How lovely. You know that I'm going to have to clean you off before I can dress you, right? How much of a challenge are you going to make that for me?"

Massive. Seemingly impossible because she kicks at him, shoving at his shoulders when he bends down to take the jar cradled to her bosom away from her.

Kylo stands up then and crosses his arms. No doubt the wounds on her back and legs will need attending to. When he was in town he had bought a healing ointment, but it needs to be applied to clean skin. Clean, and not something covered in sugary apple preserves.

"This is _ridiculous_. I think you must be doing this on purpose, making me stoop so low as to be your personal maid."

The girl growls. Huffs. Shoves another messy handful of sweet into her mouth.

"You eat like an animal."

The observation may be redundant, but the girl still wrinkles her nose at him. Kylo stands up, frowns down at her, then starts to tidy up the room while making a show of ignoring her.

"You really had gotten into everything, hadn't you?"

Even the wooden flour barrel had been tampered with, and small finger shaped indents mark its surface though apparently didn't meet her liking. At least the pickled fish she hadn't been able to reach, or Kylo doesn't doubt she'd be covered with their pungent brine alongside the jam.

When the kitchen is straightened up, Kylo starts to unpack what he'd brought with him. One of the items he'd hoped to tempt her into good behavior with was a fresh fish pie. Not at all to his liking, but he can see how the girl's head picks up as he unwraps it and the smell drifts over to her.

The jam pot drops from her hands and she lunges forward. Her legs bow out underneath her but she's learning to walk already, and only Kylo wrapping his arm around her waist holds her back from presumably diving face-first into the pastry treat.

And then how the girl howls, her hands smacking wildly at him as he drags her to one of the rearmost rooms. He drops the sticky, thrashing body onto the cold tiled floor of of the bathroom and she immediately scuttles into the corner, curling up tight around herself.

One of the advantages of the watchtower that had swayed Kylo into choosing it for himself was that it had the luxury of indoor plumbing. The water comes from a large cistern up the hill and, though fresh and pure, tended to be unfortunately frigid. He starts to draw her a bath but frowns as the icy temperature bites at even his touch.

" _You._ " He turns to the still cringing girl. "You will wait here while I heat up some water. Try to do your very best not to make too much of a nuisance of yourself."

He picks up a comb and debates how lethal of an instrument it could be in the wrong hands. Somewhat, but nothing he couldn't handle, surely.

The girl snatches the comb away from him when he offers it. She sniffs it and looks up at him, prompting another eyeroll from Kylo.

"You brush your hair with it, m'lady, not eat it."

He pushes an image into her mind of her combing her tangled, sticky snarl of brown hair. The girl blinks and Kylo leaves her to it to heat up a few buckets of water on the fireplace.

* * *

In the girl's credit, she had tried.

By the time Kylo gets back to her, two steaming buckets tugging on each hand, she had pulled her hair as straight as the sticky jam coating it would allow. Several clumps of it were stuck through the tines of the comb, but it appears that she had gotten the core concept of what he'd expected her to do.

"Good girl," he praises.

Good girl then, but she had once more recoiled when he'd come too close. She fought back unnecessarily hard as he picked her up, and her thrashing only grew in intensity as he carried her to the full bathtub.

It wasn't until he'd plopped her in, her resisting limbs nearly dragging him down with her, that she'd quieted down.

" _Water_. Don't tell me you've forgotten it already."

Indeed she hadn't, because she immediately sinks below the surface. Kylo watches her watching him, and her expression becomes increasingly frustrated. When she breaks the surface again she gasps, sputtering out the water she had just inhaled.

"You can't breathe that anymore? I hadn't assumed you could, but..."

But what? But another piece of the puzzle. And the way her legs twist and her hips roll from side to side makes Kylo assume that she's trying to change back into her natural form.

Unsuccessfully. Kylo reaches for the bar of soap and the girl is too distracted by her failure at becoming a mermaid again that she doesn't notice when he sits himself next to her on the top.

She squawks when he touches her back, though. A large wall of water is slapped his direction as she retreats to the opposite side of the tub. Kylo sighs, now throughly soaked along with the floor.

He picks up the second bucket of hot water and pours it in, heating the bath up further in the hopes that the warmth of it will calm her down.

The girl watches him. Watches the falling water as it sparkles in the sunlight from the window above them. She reaches out to catch some in her hand but recoils when it proves too hot to touch.

"I can wait you out, m'lady. Don't ever doubt my patience."

She may be plenty stubborn, but he is more so still. The girl scowls, makes angry huffs, and occasionally kicks more water at him in an effort to get him to leave. It's only when he does so to bring in a third now heated bucket that he finds her starting to grow more tolerant of his presence.

The bath now is hotter than he himself would like, but the girl practically unfolds, sliding down into the bath like a piece of kelp being drawn across the bottom of the ocean by the tide.

She dips her head under again, this time having the sense to hold her breath. When she comes back out she sighs, glaring at him only halfheartedly as he approaches her again.

He picks up her hair, coating it in the washing cream lightning quick before she has the chance to pull away. Then she dips back under the surface again, effectively taking over the task of rinsing off her hair for him.

For a few minutes she floats like that, content or at least less fussy than her unusual waspish self. Then she scoots up, sitting in the tub, and swishes her arms about.

"Are you playing with the water?"

For all the world that what it looks like she's doing. There's even a slight smile on her face, though perhaps that's Kylo's mind playing tricks on him. She certainly seems in a better mood though, and even tolerates him swiping the soapy washcloth over the worst of her wounds with only an annoyed whine and another wall of water splashed in his direction.

Then she flops back again, relaxing against the back o the tub with her head and chest above the surface. Water droplets flow down the front of her body, tracing in two lines along the side of her face only to merge in the space between her breasts.

Kylo clears his throat, his cheeks burning at the unspeakable thoughts that try to push through his mind. She's a very, very convincing human girl. Naked, soaking wet, and languishing in his own personal bathtub. He should go. There are countless obligations he must attend to that take place in any other room of the tower than this one.

"I'll leave you to it," he says, rising.

He places a towel nearby, and the girl looks at it than him again.

Then she sinks under the surface again, her body twisting and turning about in the water.

Kylo leaves then, feeling oddly out of sorts from this bizarre sequence of events her just participated in. One task of the day complete, though. The girl was clean. Next is dressing her wounds then dressing _her_ , and now Kylo finds himself guardedly optimistic that a strategically timed fish pie will go a long ways to assisting with both.

* * *

Author's note:

Still having fun with this I hope? Well I know I am! Soon i may have to actually give this story a plot, even if it's a wee one. And this story is quite popular on archive of our own but not so much here, so if anyone felt like leaving a comment or two you'd totally make my day! : )

As always, you can also find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and on twitter at Ava_Avdal where I have a very pretty cover picture up for this chapter if you'd like to see!


	7. Don't You Have a Cowl or Something?

"No dress, no pie, that's how this is going to work."

The naked mermaid in front of her narrowed her eyes, her shoulders hunching up and readying themselves to strike.

She took an unsteady step to Kylo's left. He matched her, physically blocking her route to the savory baked good on the windowsill that had become a major point of contention between them.

" _Here_ ," he shakes the off-white fabric at her, "just try it on. It's cold. You're wet. You need clothes."

The still unnamed girl steps to the other side, trying a new route for her approach. She's visibly shivering despite her fiery expression, and her wet hair now rolls down her shoulders in icy-looking coils, sending droplets pooling onto the equally cold stone floor under her bare feet.

She looks like she's freezing.

Kylo sighs and steps forward, bringing himself dangerously close to a distance where she might be able to hit him in the ribs again. She'd done just that ten minutes before, when he'd tried to get her out of the tub, and the remaining pain in his side only strengthens his resolve.

"You're looking a little chilled, m'lady. Shouldn't have stayed in the bath that long, now should you have?"

She'd been in there nearly an hour, long after the water had stopped being hot or even lukewarm. When Kylo had gone back to check on her, her lips had nearly been turning blue and goosebump swere all along her arms and legs. Other places as well, but he had stopped himself from looking for any more proof of her near brush with hypothermia.

"Put this on and sit next to the fire. If you get a cold and expect me to play your nursemaid you're going to be very sorrowfully mistaken."

He's not sure if her mind is capable of thinking that way. Of understanding his logic. Do mermaids even get sick? Injured of course, but can they catch a cold just like a human can?

The girl looks at him sidelong, eying the fabric in his hand with obvious suspicion. So little trust and he's given her no reason to hold him in such disregard. Everything about this scene is _ridiculous_.

" _Oh bloody hell._ "

Kylo begins to stride forward, quickly closing the distance between them. If he has to wrestle a soaking wet, naked girl to the floor to get her to _put on some damned clothes_ then he will, pretense be damned.

He had expected her to squawk and slap at him. Bite and perhaps claw at his eyes as well. Instead, she tenses again, cringing and backing up against the wall. Then, just as he is about to grab her and begin their battle, she ducks. Dips down low under his extending arm with a surprising speed. The girl can barely walk but she can _leap_ , apparently, and she all but flies across the room before Kylo has a chance to stop her.

Defiantly she seizes the fish pie, holds it to her chest, and sinks down into the far corner with her teeth bared in warning.

Kylo sputters in disbelief. She was fast, he'd give her that. And crafty.

And she eats like an absolute pig, digging her fingers into the pie and shoving the largest handful she can into her mouth.

"I was going to warm that up for you, you know," Kylo says with a huff. "And how can you still be hungry? You ate half my damned pantry less than an hour ago."

No answer, not even a growl when he flings the dress at her feet and crosses his arms. She pulls the pie closer still, though, apparently unwilling to give up her feeding frenzy for any reason.

"You choke on that and I'm not helping you."

He tries to push an image of her wearing the dress into her mind. The girl blinks, stopping her noisy chewing for only a moment before continuing.

Yes, it probably hadn't been a very effective command. Kylo's not sure if the dress would even fit her, let alone how she'd look wearing one since he's only ever seen her wrapped in a fishing net and nothing else. Made the visualization of his order to her rather difficult.

"Might as well stoke up the fire," he mutters, "I expect that's all I can do for you."

Taking care of his 'guest' has suddenly become a full time job, it would seem.

"But don't think I'm giving up on this so easily, m'lady. I'm coming right back in here with some towels and then you're going upstairs again and you'll show me exactly how you got out before."

He leaves then, fighting the very strong urge to slam the door behind him as he goes. Bloody hell indeed.

* * *

The girl had apparently eaten herself queasy. That was good. Her lethargy had finally let him make some progress with dressing her.

She was shivering in her little corner when Kylo returned, towels in hand partnered with a new resolve. She looked up at him then, regarding his approach with an oddly melancholy expression. There was a half-finished pie next to her, she'd eaten a portion probably good for two or three people, and she didn't look too happy about the poor decisions she had just made.

Kylo counted himself lucky she didn't get sick all over him as he bruskly toweled her off. She was half dry already it had been so long, and her slaps against him lacked much of their usual sting.

"Upset stomach giving you trouble, m'lady? Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned in that."

She seemed rather confused at what he was doing, but she didn't fight him nearly as much as she had before. She even seemed to understand the notion of his purpose or the result of it when he draped the second towel around her shoulders. After a few moments of half-hearted thrashing, she quieted down and even wrapped it closer around herself.

"Yes. It's cold in here. I'm not doing this to torture you. Or myself, though that's become incidental. Now raise your arms."

 _That_ image he pushes loud and clear into her mind. Even in his projection she's already dressed, the strategically imperative areas of her body covered for propriety.

And she stops with her rather limp kicking away at him and Kylo can feel the shift in her mind. A sense of recognition. It pierces through the space between them, bringing along with it an understanding.

 _Why?_

She doesn't say the word into his mind, but she projects it just as he had done to her. Kylo pauses himself, staring down at her, dimly noting that her drier but now tangled hair needs to be brushed again.

And then he immediately feels like a fool.

This was their first moment of real communication in any sense, and all he could think about was making her fix her hair so she wouldn't sleep in it with a mess like that.

"So you'll be warmer,"he tries to tell her. "Clothing is warmer. _This_ ," he picks up the edge of the towel wrapped around her shoulders and her eyes carefully follow the movement of his hand, "this is warmer. Put the damn clothes on."

Another set of images. He tries to feed her the idea of what he's trying to accomplish. Leaves out the parts of her nudity being extremely inappropriate and only becoming more so with every hour that passes between them.

She's an animal. A creature. A very strange one, unique to the world as Kylo knows it. Modesty is too foreign of a concept.

But survival and comfort aren't. Her hands raise, palms out. Slowly, jerkily lifting her arms like she was surrendering.

Communication success. She's doing what he wants her to, even if she doesn't fully understand.

Kylo wastes no opportunity. The dress is rolled into a circle, dropped over her head and arms, and he steps back. Now it's wadded up under her armpits and she frowns. Her arms stay raised, and she cocks her head to the side as if to say 'that's it? Now what?'

"Now, my lady?" Kylo says. "Now I trulyhave no idea."

What is she? What's he going to do with her? Really, what _is_ she?

There are answers out there to every question, Kylo just has to put his mind to it to find them.

The girl was dressed finally. Dressed incorrectly, with the essential areas still exposed and the majority of the fabric wadded up above them, but Kylo was going to count this as close enough to a victory for the day.

And she squirming and looking displeased, fidgeting with the cloth around her upper torso but stopping when Kylo clears his throat.

"I have some research I must do. Don't disturb me."

And don't eat anything and everything you can get you curious little hands on.

Kylo turns then, leaving her to her own devices while he continues with pouring over every text he has to try and unlock the mystery that's been so recently presented to him.

* * *

The girl was quiet. Too quiet.

Kylo found himself constantly checking on her with the Force. Her presence told him little other than she was there, flitting about one room of his home to another. Never the room he was in, but everywhere else that her bare feet would take her.

She didn't try to go back up the stairs to her room. Either that place held negative associations already or, more likely, she didn't know _how_ to use steps yet. He still hasn't figured out how she got out and down to begin with. There had been no obvious signs of her door being tampered with or bashed out.

He clears his throat and attempts to go back to the book he was still on the first page of for the last few minutes. There had been just one recount of a mermaid that turned into a human, and it was tied with ancient folklore. A ridiculous story of a curse and a prophecy.

However, like all folk tales of old, there was a chance there was some kernel of truth to it. A real, factual event that had once occurred and then had been bastardized by storytellers to the point of lunacy.

This is not his area of expertise. Slaying her kind was his area of expertise. Kylo will have to find someone to consult, but first make them swear to absolute secrecy.

"It's rude to stare. And to hover. You're being twice rude already, m'lady, and you haven't even said a peep."

The girl had known where he was, of course, but it had taken her this long to work up her courage to step through the door he'd left open to tempt her with.

Silence.

He can feel her eyes bore into the back of his head.

Then soft, soft footsteps. Creeping catlike and shy. She sticks to the shadows of the edges of the room. So quiet, until her unsteady legs make her stumble and knock a whole row of books of one of the shelves.

Kylo sighs and looks over at her, readying a cutting retort that would be completely lost on her but it fades when he sees her.

"You're still wearing it. Rarely have I ever been so shocked in all my days, m'lady."

She not only wearing the dress but wearing it properly. The shift flows around her, slightly too big for her tiny frame and of a completely inappropriate light fabric for the season. Most likely it descended as she was wandering about, but she still cuts a far more suitable frame than he's seen before.

And in her hand is the fish pie. She's already eaten almost all of it. Just a slice left and her frame may be boney but her food-swollen belly can be seen even through the billowy fit of the dress.

"You really are going to make yourself sick."

Just for fun, for _his_ personal fun and hardly hers, Kylo reaches out. Extends his arm as if he's going right for her snack and he means to snatch it from her.

The girl yips. Scowls. Holds it closer to herself. She glares at him as she settles down into the far corner, prize wrapped safely in her arms.

"Better than my cooking, I take it?"

Her head cocks, ear raised toward the ceiling. Oh she's listening alright, but her mind is as unknowable to him as ever.

He goes back to his book then, letting the girl watch him in a silence that maybe, perhaps, could be considered companionable.

* * *

Light fluffy chapter with no real plot, hope you like it! Soon I promise I'll start giving this a plot. A real one. Until then, Happy Valentine's Day!

And as always, you can find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight at twitter at Ava_Avdal

* * *

comment replies:

Coesa Rudo: Sorry about the delay in replying, thanks so much for your kind words! I'm glad you've enjoyed this story and i hope you check out this latest chapter too! : )

Guest: Thank you! I'm glad you like ch6! Thanks for commenting! : )


	8. Wiggle Wiggle in the Night

How had the girl gotten out of her tower room?

That question had been pricking at the back of Kylo's mind all evening long. His guest, the one who very soon would need a name, had been on relatively good behavior. She had sat in her corner of his library and eaten her food quietly. Her seventh or eight dinner of the night. It must have made her sleepy because nextshe had curled up, rested her head on the bend of her arm, and watched him in silence.

She didn't seem like a human. She didn't seem like a mermaid. She was something else. And her quietude only perturbed him more.

Kylo had waited until he was reasonably certain she was asleep before ascending to the top room where he had first placed her. It was more or less not in complete disarray. A scattering ob objects hinting at places where she had been learning to stand and then fell and caught herself on a piece of furniture. Nothing suspicious. Nothing she could have used to somehow bash or maneuver the locked door open.

It was a mystery. Kylo had gone down then, counting each one of the steps she must have awkwardly, dangerously descended on her own. When he gets back to the library the girl is there just like she was except now the empty pie plate is laying on the center of the floor and she's watching him with an _al_ _most_ expectant look on her face.

"You're not hungry," he tells her, "you can't possibly be hungry. Did you leave this here for me to do something with?"

Silence. Of course. The girl doesn't talk. He's not sure if she _c_ _an_ talk, or simply doesn't know how. But an odd feeling pushes at Kylo's mind. A sort of nudge. No… a sort of _suggestion_.

Kylo blinks. The girl's gimlet-eyed stare doesn't waver. The feeling continues and he closes his eyes to focus on it.

She's trying to tell him something. Somehow, she's trying to tell him something. Trying to push into his mind a message just like he had done to her on several occasions.

A… it's another fish pie. That's what he sees. Visualizes it as if it was through her own eyes. Feels the leaden weight pushing at his stomach. Uncomfortably full. Almost nauseating so, but still tempered with a sharp sense of longing.

Oh, and sweets, too. She's thinking of the jam. No, she's _telling_ him about it. Good memories and high hopes for the future.

Kylo's eyes snap open. The girl squares her jaw defiantly.

"A sense of entitlement is a most uncharming quality, m'lady. I'm under no obligation to ever feed you again, you do know that?"

He picks up the plate and her eyes widen. When he kneels next to her she doesn't immediately scurry to the other side of the room like she did only half a day before.

"Do you know what you are?"

His other hand reaches out, nearly touching her forehead but thinking better of it when she growls lowly in her throat and shrinks away.

"I think that maybe I was looking for answers in the wrong places. Maybe I should have been going to the source rather than old fairy tales."

His palm wraps around her head, covering her eyes, and she whines. Her feet kick and hands flail but he ignores that. Holds her tighter as she pushes away harder, an edge of confusion and fear rising through from her mind into his.

Kylo focuses. This doesn't have to be an unpleasant business and he doesn't mean for it to be. Just a few answers. A soft and harmless skimming over the surface of her memories.

Tightness. Restriction. She remembers that. Recently too. She had been tied up. Confined somewhere very small. She'd still had a tail then and she had been locked up in some place far too small for her to stretch out like she had been desperate for.

The feelings strike him. Hazy, uncertain. Very confusing. Experiencing her captivity through her mind but it wasn't familiar. She had still very much been an animal then. Kylo couldn't see anything, but he could feel.

Oh. Wait. He c _ould_ see, but just a little. A crack of light. She had been kept in a box somewhere. The hold of a ship? No. _Maybe_. She was underwater. Kylo could feel the saltwater filling her lungs. Very stale and moldy. Whoever had done this hadn't tried to kill her, but that had tried to keep her.

A man's voice, then. More than one. They were talking, but the sounds were distorted by the water.

Then the hatch opens and the vision fills with blinding light.

The girl's hand strikes Kylo hard on the fleshy part of his cheek right below his eyes. She's slapped him almost, and now their brief mental connection has been brought to an abrupt end. She kicks at him, striking him squarely in his chest as she tries to get away.

There's that look of fear in her eyes again. She's upset with him. Angry and frightened that he's made her re-live that.

Something about that look of pure betrayal cuts Kylo deep. He catches her wrist and doesn't think about it as he hauls her into him, wrapping his arms around her and sinking his fingers into her hair just as he sinks his will back into her mind.

Sleep," he commands.

And she does.

The girl slumps, falling the rest of the way into his arms. Kylo doesn't waste any time, knowing from before how quickly she seems able to break his spell on her. He picks her up then, the empty pie plate clattering to the floor with a tinny ring, and he sweeps her out of the room and takes her back upstairs.

* * *

He had been pretending to be asleep.

Kylo felt her when she woke. It didn't take her very long at all. She seemed to becoming more immune to his efforts over her, and that was a rather disturbing and enigmatic new development.

Oh yes, she was angry. Very. She knew what he'd done and she'd woken up rather cross with him.

There had been a tantrum when she'd found the tower door locked. She'd thrown things, everything small enough for her to lift by the sounds of it. He could hear her voice huffing and puffing and making angry, feral sharp sounds that for all the world seemed like she was cursing him out.

The door had shook. Kylo reached out with the force, trying to see exactly what she was doing. The more he connects his mind to hers, the easier it becomes. She's throwing herself at the heavy iron-reinforced wood, trying to bash it down with her shoulder, and he feels a sympathetic was of hot pain flow across his own body from the impact.

Then she sinks down, frustration roiling through her. Tears burn against his cheeks. Infuriated. Humiliated.

 _Determined_.

She's doing something. Trying to do something. Not just crying and giving up and accepting her confinement, but she's trying to accomplish something.

The Force shifts. She's pulling on it, trying to manipulate it. It's ugly and beyond fumbling. She has not a single idea how to do what she's doing, but she's doing it anyhow.

Kylo can hear the door lock snap open even all the way from downstairs.

It's met with a eave of pure, unbridled enthusiasm. I did it! I did it! So much excitement that Kylo has to pull away and break his voyeurism.

So she can use the Force, then? What a terribly dangerous precedent. Not for the first time he wonders if he should have killed her when he had the chance. Her kind, the merfolk that she must still be despite appearances, were magical. They all had the Force within them, but it was part of their supernatural lifeblood, not their power to command at will.

What Kylo knows he _should_ do and what he's capable of are now two very different things. Another very dangerous development. There were so few things in the world that Kylo knows he could trust but up until meeting this aberrant girl his faith in himself had been implicit.

A soft female grunt comes from somewhere at the top of the flight of the stairs. Kylo had been lurking in the nighttime shadows of the central room, lost in his thoughts and his concentration of her. She's coming down the stairs now. Slowly, painfully, and not without a healthy amount of fear. She's afraid of falling, as she well should be, and instead is half sliding half crawling backwards on her hands and feet, taking each step one at a time.

Kylo silently returns back to the library where she had last seen him to be. He lays down on the padded bench, pretending to be asleep again, and even kicks off his shoes and draws a blanket over himself for good effect. He can track her well enough with the Force and, should she slip and fall on the spiral staircase, then it would be by her own foolishness and a greatly difficult decision would be taken off his hands and out of his conscience.

When the girl gets to the bottom landing she stands and grows still. Listening, probably. It's late, the evening had been a long one, and Kylo wonders if she can hear the crashing of the waves along the shore outside.

The only sign of her entry into the room with him is a slight shift in the currents of the air. With every step she takes she seems to become more adapt at the next. Clever little thing. Between her opening the door with her mind and now walking with all the subtlety of a cat slinking through the shadows of the night, Kylo can't help but feel a little humbled. He has underestimated her clearly. A mistake he will have to learn from and quickly.

He pokes at her mind to suss out her goal but her presence is evasive to him. This time Kylo doesn't press too hard, not wanting to give his wakefulness away and spook her before she reveals her intention.

Instead he opens his eyes a sliver. Just enough to see the shape of her as she creeps about. He'd left the grate of the fire open, hoping that the light and warmth of it would bring her here so he could observe her better.

The girl slinks. Slowly. Cautiously. She's watching him, and Kylo can see the deep suspicion in her eyes as she approaches.

When she gets to his bedside she stops. Kylo keeps his eyes slitted nearly closed, drawing his breath in steadily. The girl watches him, her full lips pressing together into a tight line and oh what he would give to be able to read her thoughts right now.

The notion that somehow she had been sent by his many enemies to kill him was not an impossible one. Here she was, this strange and unique creature, and now she think she has him at a disadvantage.

If she's going to do it, do anything to him, she'll need to be very quick. He can summon his saber into his hand in an instant. His fingertips prickle, readying themselves to rise and do exactly that as the girl's hand reaches out.

But quick she isn't. In fact she's the exact opposite. Her hand floats out through the firelit air, reaching for him. His neck, perhaps? Is that her plan?

No, it isn't. She's reaching for his feet instead.

Oh so carefully she catches the swollen blanket he had draped over him. Pinches it and glances up. Kylo keeps his face placid even as his curiosity piques.

Then she lifts it, exposing his lower legs to the air.

And she leans in close. Close enough that he can feel her breath ghosting over his feet. She regards them with a look of pure intensity. Then her head shifts and she looks down at her own lower body before going back to his.

A finger points and extends. She touches the big tow of the foot closest to her with a barely detectable press. Kylo wiggles it just a little. The girl blinks rapidly. She touches it again, this time tracing the edge of the toenail from one corner to the other. He wiggles his toe again and this time she recoils slightly. Her hand retracts but her gaze only grows in focus. She stares at his feet, turning her head from one side to the other as if contemplating the appendage from a new angle is the secret to understanding how they work.

Her nose twitches and Kylo's eyes begin to slide open wider. She pays no attention to him or anywhere except his closest foot. Her chin lifts and she bites on her lower lip, her top teeth baring themselves in her concentration, and all at once Kylo's patience snaps competently.

"Are you bloody well thinking about _eating my toes_? You are, aren't you?!"

The girl hisses at his voice, her eyes going wide as she pushes away. Kylo grabs her wrist, leaping to his feet, and oh how she yowls. He towers over her easily as she hunches, growling and trying to jerk herself free.

"M'lady-" he starts to shake a chiding finger at her before reconsidering the move as too risky -"I do believe you were planning on biting me. That's terrible unkind of you."

Planning or perhaps at least considering it. She looks up at him and there's both fear and a very pouty sort of guilt to her expression that answers his question for her.

"I see," he lets go of her and she shrinks backwards, grabbing the empty pie plate and holding it up almost like a shield. "I suppose the only mystery here is whether you would have actually gone through it or not."

He glares down at her, projecting an image of all the food he had brought for her into her mind. And the guilt in her eyes only grows, apparently bloodthirsty mermaids _were_ in fact capable of feeling remorse.

Kylo sighs and reaches out, offering her an olive branch in the form of trusting his hand to be close enough to her to help her up to her feet. The girl bolts then, awkwardly dashing around him and out of the room as fast as her unsteady limbs will let her. Kylo lets her go, listening and waiting for the thunderous sounds of her retreating back up the stairs to her room. Instead her steps go the other way, rounding the corner of the hall to a different part of-

"Oh are you going to the pantry? Is that it?"

The door slams shuts before Kylo can reach it. Adding insult to injury he next hears her dragging something heavy across her side of it, probably one of the pantry shelves.

Then silence falls. Kylo can sense her anticipation. She expects him to bash down the door and he has half a mind to do just that in the wake of her brush with her cannibalistic former nature.

The other half of him wins out, though. Wins out and makes him sigh deep and soul weary, his eyes rolling up and around as the full effect of what his life has become over this last days hits him in full.

"Fine then, m'lady," he calls out loudly, "stay in there if you must. At least I'll know where you are _for once._ "

He leaves then, returning to the library only to put another log on the fire before going to his proper bedroom. This time he locks the door and drags his own dresser in front of it as well. Then, just for good measure, he goes to his closet and pulls out his heaviest, firmest pair or leather boots and puts them on before finally retiring to sleep.

Only then does he hear the pantry door scrape open. It's a short lived noise, not enough to have made a gap for the girl to have crept through, but soon the night resonates with a tinny ringing sound.

The pie plate. She had unbarricaded herself just enough to toss the empty pie plate out, and then the door closes again.

"A goodnight message for me, m'lady?" he asks to no one.

Subtle. He should have to try and teach her manners, but first would have to be the very basics of civilized conduct. Until then, it would seem that another trip to the bakery in town would be in order tomorrow.

* * *

author's note:

What? Rey's only been a human for like a day tops! She started off just wanting to see if Kylo has the same strange things at the end of his legs like she does and then all that toe wiggling… it was too enticing to resist. #thegirlcanthelpit

And as always, find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight or on twitter (for this chapter's GORGEOUS gifted artwork) at Ava_Avdal

* * *

comment replies:

Guest: I'm gad you liked this update! I hope you check out ch8 too. Thanks so much for commenting!

jhsbradford: Thanks for commenting! I think this version of Reylo is so very different from anything I've done before it makes for some really interesting chances at their characterizations. I'm having a lot of fun with it!


	9. Still Waters Run Red

Kylo was no stranger to brutal carnage, but even he felt his stomach churn at the gruesome sight his men had summoned him to.

The four fishermen were in _pieces_ , their remains scattered along from one end of the rocky beach to the other. There was no sign of their boat, no doubt it now lay at the bottom of the ocean by now. That meant that the bodies had been dragged out here and left to be found like this.

"I knew them," Taleisin said. "They were good men. They weren't brash. They stayed on our side of the breakers and they wouldn't have crossed it. Not without good reason."

Yes. **N** _ot without good reason._ That was the art that haunted Kylo almost as much as the severed bodies of the townsfolk they would now have to lay to rest.

"Either they were swept out farther than they should have been or- or something happened to draw them beyond where was safe."

The breakers did more than just mark the change between the safe shallows and the dangerous open ocean; they were a symbolic line that neither side of man or merfolk would often cross.

"We'll need to extend our patrols," he tells Taleisin and Ria. "Do not go out alone. Go in groups of two or better three. Twice a day, and let's talk with the fishermen. There must be at least a few among them who have their own theories about this."

"They will be blinded by their fear," Ria says, "anything they have to say will be tainted with superstition."

Prophecy. Curses. Nonsense. But sometimes that's all one has to work on.

"Superstition based on a fact is still a fact. Taleisin, you will go. You're one of the more amenable of us. Go to the town and get them drinking then get them talking."

If possible, Kylo would have liked to go with him. It would have given a convenient excuse to go into the town and get certain baked provisions for his guest. He had left her in the morning with the door to the pantry still locked tight and not a peep of answer to his polite knocking against the frame. The entrance to the watchtower was secured as best as he could, and that was it. At least she wouldn't go hungry or thirsty, but Kylo couldn't have delayed any further to begin his morning duties.

The duties that had lead him to this dark and horrific scene far too close to his own home.

"What shall I say about this?" Taleisin gestures at the fleshy carnage behind him. "Should I lie? Tell the truth?"

The truth would cause a panic. The villagers already had reasons to distrust him and his Knights, now this could well seem like a greater failure in their vow to protect them.

But it would also make them afraid. It would make them more cautious. Less likely to suffer the same fate as these four simple fishermen who had fallen to such a cruel end.

"The truth. Perhaps omit the worst of it, but use your judgment. Warn them to stick to the closest waters if they must fish at all. Swear to them we will-

"We will protect them no matter what, for it is our sworn duty."

Kylo nods, dismissing the Knight with his silence. Then he turns to the horse drawn cart Ria had come by and pulls out two shovels.

"We will do it quickly," he tells her. "It will have to be a shallow grave, but we can't risk burying them at sea. That could only make this worse for us."

He can feel the weight of her veiled stare on him as he approaches the first part of the first body. Kylo swallows, stilling his mind as he feels her steady press against the edges of it.

"What?" he asks.

"You wanted to go into the town," she says. "Why? The villagers fear you the most of us all, and you know your presence would have made it worse."

Kylo thinks of nothing but the task at hand. Of finding the root of what has been causing this sudden turn of events to break the status.

"I want answers, Ria. Now draw the carriage and we will start to load it up. Over at the bottom of that hill-" he gestures to a low and rocky rise of the grass nearby -"the ground is softer. Two feet deep and we'll pile rocks over. Be quick with it."

He spends the rest of their time together thinking about nothing beyond bringing those responsible for this to the swiftest of justice.

* * *

The waters had been playing tricks on his mind all morning.

After putting the dead to rest he and Ria had parted ways. Kylo could feel her suspicions rising. She knew just like any of his Knights would know that he was holding something back from them.

They trusted each other. It was tantamount to their survival. To everyone's survival. But that didn't change anything.

Kylo couldn't risk telling his men about the girl until _he_ knew about the girl. Until then, an abrupt dismissal and a turn on his heel before any questions could be asked would have to be his final word.

And still the ocean would call to him. Despite his every effort to clear his mind and focus, Kylo found himself constantly distracted. He would gaze out into the waters for too long as he was burying the fishermen, and it would only be a stern and forbidding silence from his companion that would draw him back.

Now that he was alone the feeling ebbed and flowed. At times compelling him to stop on his walk back to the watchtower to look out at the rolling waves. The tide was out now, thew rocky beach now a wide and wet swatch of tidal pools and alarming quietude.

Kylo strode out to the edge of it, his palm holding tight to the saber at his side. The watchtower was now cresting over the horizon and he was reluctant to go back there when there was literal blood on his hands.

It was morning but a dull and foggy one at that. The fog had only grown with the day, casting a private sort of melancholia to Kylo's distressed mind. He could see now why perhaps the fishermen had dared when they shouldn't have. Fall was becoming winter and the easy days were soon to end. The harvest season such as it was had been very poor with the constant threats of the merfolk encroaching. Things like that paired with the promise of the early onset of winter could make people desperate. One last good haul. Worth the risk.

No, not worth the risk. Nothing would be. Now the families of those four would suffer from more than just the loss of their kin.

And to think that some didn't even have a family at all.

Kylo kneels at one of the pools along the retreating water's edge to wash the dried blood off his hands and for a moment he can see her face reflecting back at him. Dark hair. Bright eyes.

Gone. A trick of his mind.

But the splash that strikes his face is very real.

"How the hell did you get out?"

The girl is there, wading only ankle deep in the water but he still winces when eh thinks of her bare feet against the rocks. Water drips from her hands and she bends, scooping up another handful to toss at his face.

Oh and she's naked again.

Kylo shouldn't be surprised. He would have guessed that he moment he had left she would shuck herself out of her dress like the pearl to an oyster, but it's hard to be cross with her when she gives him the very first real smile he's seen on her face.

And then the water hits his eyes and eh sputters, standing up again. The girl steps back, her lips pursed. Mischievous. She goes deeper into the water, backing away from him.

"No no," he tells her, "stay close."

The rocky shore drops off soon. The water rises to her knees and he reaches his hand out plaintively, beseeching her to take it.

The girl looks at his fingers and bares her teeth like she had the night before, but she still steps further out.

"Don't make me get you," he warns. "The wetter I am the worse my cooking gets. It will be nothing but carrots and potatoes for you today if I get too cross."

The girl pouts. She pouts and she's naked and wet up to her thighs. The tide has shifted now, starting to push forward.

Kylo grimaces as a wave ebbs, pushing the girl into a stumble that only brings her close enough for him to grab only for her to fall backwards with a splash.

"Careful!" he shouts, but it's too late.

The next wave crashes too soon, and the girl spins tumbling out of sight. Kylo's breath catches as he sees it happen. One moment she was there, and in the blink of an eye she's gone, disappearing into the now white-capped surf.

White capped. She's gone. Now he's in the water up to _his_ thighs, the heavy wool of his pants soaked through.

And the dried blood is still on his hands. He'd never washed it off.

Kylo spins then as fast as the rapidly rising waters will let him. If someone like he could have fallen for such a trick, a normal human would never had a chance. The fog surrounds him but he knows which way is shore. It's the way away from where the waters now reaching to his belt are trying to drag him.

And then a flicker of movement catches the corner of his eye. Wet scales. Dark hair. A human girl like his guest but only from the waist up. Bare breasts and an enticing smile.

Kylo's hand is on his saber but the mermaid is faster still. She changes when she sees the glint of metal in his palm, and a violent slap of her tail to the back of his knees sends him plummeting.

Instinct alone saves his neck from the monster's teeth. He cries out, dark waters filling his lungs as her bite sinks instead deep into his shoulder. She's strong, all muscle and slip to her scales that makes Kylo's hand loose their grip as eh tries to wrestle himself free.

Her teeth now like talons sink deeper still, trying to draw out the last of his breath. Kylo looks up, the surface above him is a dim flickering light now red tinged from his own spilling blood.

If he didn't have the Force he probably would have perished. His power guides his hand, send his blade straight through the creatures heart as she wraps herself around him.

There were more coming, he can feel them. Odd, because he can't feel the girl, but he can feel this creature's life force leaving her as the waters around them both run redder still.

He breaks the hold and pushes, sending the Force out in a warning in all direction to stay the hells back from him.

If it works, it doesn't buy him much time. But enough. The air burns his lungs as he breaks surface, but now the tide works in his favor. It throws him forward, giving him the winning edge over the rest of the mermaid pack. He feet touch dry land and he heaves himself out, the wound on his shoulder flowing freely and staining his tunic an ever darker shade of black.

When he looks back Behind him he can almost see the glints of their scales as they retreat into the fog covered waters once more.

* * *

Stupid, Kylo. Stupid and brash.

He doesn't know why he hadn't known it. He should have felt their spell. He had felt _them_ , but only after they had revealed themselves. Before then he hadn't been left with a clue.

Was this the same as the girl, then? The way she was a void to him until he started to know her better? Was the merfolk's magic now changing too to disguise itself?

He'll have to tell his Knights. Tell them what an idiot he had been so they wouldn't also fall to the same folly.

But first he has to heal himself. Merfolk wounds manifested differently the a regular injury. Broken bones could be mended with his powers and scratches and cuts were only a minor inconvenience to a skilled Force wielder.

Mermaid's teeth were poisoned, however. The first step to curing them would be to stop the bleeding, because that was how their kind would track their prey. Injure them first and then band together to finish them off.

Kylo would have to rest. He could use the Force to heal the worst of it, and then try and not aggravate the wound as he waits for it to heal it full.

It wasn't a serious situation, but still, fighting with the mermaid had taken its toll on him. By the time he stumbles back through the front door of the watchtower he's lightheaded from loss of blood. The poison of the bite etches deep into his veins, making each step twist and burn with a growing agony.

No girl to greet him. The door to the top of the tower is open, though, and he can faintly hear the sounds of her puttering about up there.

It's better this way. He's not sure of her reaction to his weakened, wounded state right now, but he'd rather not pres his luck. Perhaps the sight or smell of his blood would be enough to send her into the same frenzy her kind would go into when near to it.

He goes to his bedroom and peels off his hood then his outer waistcoat. The shirt underneath is stuck to his skin and he grimaces as it peels away with a sickly suction.

Red blood tinged now with black. The poison. If he were a regular human he would be very lucky to survive this.

Kylo balls up his now ruined shirt and swipes his shoulder as clean as he can without water. Then he sits on his bed, closes his eyes, and concentrates. He pulls the Force within him, focusing it on the wound. Visualizes each one of the pointed, razor sharp gashes along his flesh knitting together.

It takes a considerable effort, he'd waited longer than he really should have, but it works. The poison dissipates and the wound knits closed, leaving a clotted perfect imprint of the mermaid's teeth. He'll scar from it probably, but that was his own fault for letting this ambush happen at all.

When he's finally done his shoulders slump, exhaustion now washing over him. Force healing was not a skill that came easily to him. Others of his Knights like Taleisin were more adept at it with their gentler disposition, but the few times Kylo had to apply the talent to himself had left him similarly bone-weary.

A few hours sleep would help greatly. Impossible when the girl was now there, her muted presence watching him from his bedroom door.

"Come in," he says, not bothering to look back.

It's eerie how he can't feel her and only barely hear her. His bedroom is one of the few places in the watchtower that has a carpet, and now her bare feet against it barely even make a whisper as she approaches.

She stands near to him, out of arm's reach but closer than she usually would go. Her hands fidget with the loose fabric of her dress. In his vision of her she'd been naked though now he's much relieved that eh doesn't have to try and dress her again after the trying morning he's had.

Her hand reaches out, and only then does her fully look at her.

"Why are your palms black?"

Black fingers, black palms, and dark staining smudges along her dress.

"Ah… my ink. I'd taken my pens away but you'd gotten into the ink. I hope you didn't try to eat it."

her face isn't stained like a child in a berry patch. Kylo blinks when he looks up at her. She's smiling, almost. A lift to her lips and not a trace of ink marring her face.

Her cheeks are redder though, almost as if she was blushing. Her eyes look from his face then down, her hand poking at the meat of his good shoulder before retreating again.

He's naked from the waist up, he realizes. He must look more like a merman than she had expected, and now the girl seems more confused by his existence than ever.

"You and me both, m'lady. I think I should have to name you soon."

He meant it in jest, but her eyes widen as he shifts to face her better. She sucks in a breath, her eyebrows drawing up and together when she sees the wound. It's not bleeding anymore, but there's still streaks of blood around it from when he'd so carelessly wiped it away with his shirt.

She steps closer then and Kylo lets her. Lets her shift away from blocking the light so she can see it better for herself.

he's very curious as to her reaction of it, but she still surprises him when she starts _hissing_. Her lips draw back, revealing teeth that wouldn't match the imprint left behind by her kinfolk. She shakes her head violently, drawing back and rubbing her own shoulder as she spits out air at him.

What in the gods is this about?

Kylo has no idea, her reaction completely baffling to him as her literal hissing fit continues. The girl starts to whine next, smacking at her own shoulder with one hand while the other either frantically waves him forward or further away from her.

So she recognizes the source of the sound clearly, but whatever she's trying to tell him about it is completely lost between them.

"What?"

he stands up when he asks it and the girl abruptly stops. She looks from him to the wound and then back, her eyes growing wide and her mouth gaping.

Then she turns, spinning so rapidly he can feel the air of her movements shifting his hair, and she runs out. Yes, she runs. She'd learned how to do that already and true to his earlier prophecy Kylo immediately regrets the day before when he'd taught her to walk. She's fast, very, and Kylo has half a mind to simply let her run about and pull rampage on the watchtower like she had done before.

Then he realizes that he hadn't barred the door. He hadn't even closed it, in fact, so sluggish from the poison he'd been under as he'd entered his home that he'd been sloppy.

"Stop!" he calls out, leaping forward to run after her but literally tripping on his own bloody rag in his urgency.

He falls to his knees then is back up to his feet in the same dress, racing out of his bedroom and down the hallway to the front room.

The door is wide open, still swinging slightly despite its weight. Muted light spills from outside but, when Kylo reaches the entrance, all he can see is fog.

No girl. She's escaped and is running from him. He doesn't waste a second chasing in blind pursuit.

* * *

Author's Note:

Ever had a stray cat that you tried to adopt and finally got it to come inside the house? Then, the first time that door is opened, it takes off running and you don't know if you'll ever see it again? Yeah, that's our Rey here. She really can't make it easy on Kylo, can she?


	10. Aw, You REALLY Shouldn't Have

"The Evening Star was last seen departing from Winterton two weeks ago. Even under the most unfavorable winds it should have reached us by now."

Kylo nods, taking in this new piece of information. A ship as big as the Evening Star disappearing with no explanation? They were no longer at war with the Winterton Hold. The weather was still favorable for travel and the waters should have been peaceful.

Which left only one plausible conclusion, but the ramifications if it were true, it would be greatly problematic.

"We have no proof it's the merfolk," Kylo finally answers. "The ship could have failed from a leak. She could have struck a rock. The fact that the only… only _remains_ that have been discovered show to have been eaten could have easily happened after the fact."

The Knights look to one another, each of them waiting for the other to speak up an contradict their leader. Predictably it's Ria who finally does so.

"Sir, the villagers are terrified. What happened to the fishermen this morning has only cemented their worst fears. They are starting to turn on us, I'm afraid. They feel we haven't been doing enough."

Displeasure twists in Kylo's chest. Taleisin who had been in the midst of force healing the rest of the mermaid's bite wound starts to pull away until Kylo waves him to continue. All of his Knights feared their leader's temper, and even Kylo has to admit that his patience for this tightly wrought situation is reaching it's breaking point.

"Tomorrow then," he says, standing a pulling on his shirt. "Tomorrow we will go hunting. We will divide ourselves into two groups. I will lead the first and you, Aemon, will lead the second. We'll row out into the edge of the deep waters and be ready for anything. What happened to me today," he gestures at his now bandaged shoulder, "will not be allowed to happen again. We keep care for each other. If one of us should start to be affected by their tricks, the rest of us will be ready. We'll bring back to the villagers a prize on a spike. As many as we can."

Kylo can sense the differing opinions of his Knights. Five of them were here, Aemon, Taleisin, Ria, and the twin archers. Seven more were stationed at the other side of the island, though they would frequently travel to and from each place as need required.

"One of us should stay with you here," Taleisin says. "If the effects of the mermaid's influence haven't worn off fully yet-"

"I am fine. I wish to be alone tonight."

He throws a stronger edge of severity into his tone. Taleisin doesn't back down, though, and Kylo can sense his other Knights readying themselves to be united in argument.

It's Ria that speaks next.

"Sir," she says, "we found you half naked stumbling about the fog and calling out for an imaginary lady. You've been tricked by a merfolk, something that should not have been possible, and you've been bitten. I understand that your pride-"

"Ria, you outstep your place. All of you do. I have recovered, my mind is my own, and I will rest. Tomorrow we have a very difficult day ahead of us. We will find the cause of what has been happening, what has happened to me, but tonight I wish to be alone to think in peace."

It had been… humiliating. That was the best word for it. He had been so distracted with trying to find the girl that he hadn't even felt his men come close to him. Close enough that they found him tearing apart the old workshop shed searching under every corner and inside every barrel for the wayward girl. The door to it had been opened but, if she ad been there, she had come and gone and disappeared into the fog.

Perhaps forever.

Kylo had done the only thing he could think of, which was lie to his own Knights and embellish the story of the mermaid's attack to explain his behavior.

"Is that your final request, Sir?" Taliesin asks, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"It is," he answers. "Now leave. Tell the others and try to reach them before nightfall but turn back if you'll be caught out. Strange dealings are afoot and we cannot take anymore risks."

The Knights leave him then, but Kylo can feel their growing suspicion linger in the air long after their departure.

* * *

It's evening and Kylo has done everything he could not to think about the girl.

He shouldn't at all. She was a abnormality. A random passerby in the narrative of his life.

Except that she was unique and he had sworn to help her. He had done on the first day when he thought she was dead and nothing since then had changed his vow. He had promised to find out what had happened to her and solve the mystery of her unique existence.

Maybe it would be best if she had gone back to where she had come from. Turned back into a mermaid and returned to her own kind. He couldn't offer her a life here, not when he knew that his own men could and would strike her down if they ever knew the truth of her existence.

Still… he leaves the door unlocked. Kylo never did that. He had too many enemies to sleep like that, trusting on the goodwill of others. Truth be told he would have liked to leave the door _open_ because what if she doesn't know how to use it? Were doorknobs too foreign for her? Why is he even thinking of such concerns?

The light in the tower is next and that one's even worse. The light could be seen for miles on a clear night, and tonight wasn't clear. If she was looking for it… she might not see it. If she'd wandered she might find herself lost, alone out in the dark night with no where to go and no proper clothes to keep the chill out.

When he ascends tot he top of the tower to light the lamp, Kylo finds what the girl had been doing before. She had gotten into the ink of his calligraphy set and she had been painting.

Murals brushed on with fingertips now decorate the walls. Swirling shapes reminiscent of the sea. A figure. A human figure, outlined in strong bold strokes. And then a strangely familiar face rendered under an erratic, critical eye.

She had drawn him. It was a jagged and dreamlike representation, but Kylo could recognize himself easily.

"She even got the bump on the nose right," he muses, his shoulders slumping.

At least, if she were not to come back, he would have something to remember her by.

* * *

The night was a stormy one.

Strong winds lashed at the shutters, and Kylo could hear the crashing surf against the rocky shore just a few hundred paces away.

No girl. If she was out there, she was probably freezing. Kylo can't help but picture her, huddled under a rock somewhere, lips turning blue and teeth chattering as hypothermia starts to set in.

"You should have stayed. You should have bloody well stayed. I have a fire. I would have cooked for you. You would have been safe."

More than once during the afternoon Kylo had braved the growing rains to go out again and look for her. This time he was very careful, but his men had stayed true to their word and gone about their orders.

No trace of the girl, though. If it hadn't been raining she might have left footprints, but now any sign of where she had gone had been long swept away under the muck. Every time he had called out 'M'Lady!' to a distant rock or bent over trees he had felt more and more like a madman.

And now the hour was approaching midnight. Not a moment of sleep was to be found. He should have been resting, but the winds had set his mind on edge. They had an oddly hollow, mournful sound to them, almost as if the storm itself was trying to tell him a message.

He listened. Listened for a hint of whatever the Force was trying to tell him. There was nothing. Just more howling from the storm interspersed with an occasional crackling from the fire or the turning of the page of a book he was reading without reading.

And then he hears it. A knock. Not a knocking on a door, but an heavier thump followed by a creak.

It's right at his front door and Kylo is on his feet in an instant, saber in his hand if need be. After the last days he has faced any manner of event could be about to happen.

The girl was there, hunched over, crawling on all fours, and absolutely _covered_ in blood.

"Gods!"

Kylo grabs for his cowl to throw over her but stops when he catches a glimpse at the feral and enraged glint to her eyes. He stops mid-step, watching helplessly as she crawls toward him, a trail of blood following her path. No, she's not on all fours, she on three with one of her arms hidden out of sight, pressed against her stomach like she was holding her insides in place.

There was so much blood. Even with the rain the girl was a horror to behold. Kylo stares at her helplessly, his mind racing over how much he might be able to cure her himself or will he have to take her to the village somehow? Would she even survive the trip there?

She grunts then, still crawling forward, and Kylo takes a step back. If she's turned again- if she's changed-

"What in the gods has happened to you?" he whispers.

Her dress is shredded, nearly torn off her and hanging on by just one shoulder strap. Even in the dim light from behind him Kylo can see all the cuts and gashes that mar her skin.

In her hands is a sickle, a rusted farmer's tool from the shed he'd been at earlier. The girl keeps crawling toward him then, her other hand still tucked close to her stomach.

When she gets to his feet her hand raises up then, offering to him what she had been hiding out of sight.

It's a head. The severed head of the mermaid that bit him.

That's where the blood had come from, at least most of it. Kylo stares speechlessly. The girl finally looks up at him, her bounty extended in offering and a smile on her blood-smeared face.

He had thought that he had killed that mermaid in the water, but apparently he hadn't. Or apparently just killing her hadn't been _good enough_.

Apparently his girl had swam down to the bottom of the ocean to finish the job herself.

* * *

Author's note:

Aw, Rey brought her host a gift, isn't that sweet of her? ;)


	11. The Girl With No Name

"Please let go of that, M'Lady. It's dripping on my floor."

The sickle clatters to the tiles but the head remains clutched tightly in the girl's arms. Kylo is carrying her now, trying to dissociate himself from every aspect of the situation. The soaking wet, bloody, human-mermaid is carrying a severed head and he's holding her in his arms, bringing her back inside as if she was a bride who is either in the before or after stages of a particularly twisted wedding night.

He takes her - _them_ \- to the bathroom and sets her on the floor. She curls up, pulling her knees into her chest and regarding the gruesome head in her hands. There's a smile on her face now, though it's matched with a tight line of pain that pulls her brows together. Pride and a job well done. Those are the emotions he can pull from the surface of her mind as he watches from a distance.

"I will need to get you clean, M'Lady," he tells her softly. "See what the extent of your wounds is."

He starts the bath filling a few finger depths with cold water, then he goes to the kitchen to put two buckets on to heat. His clothing is a bloody mess from where he'd come into contact with her. Lucky his Knights aren't here to see this or they would think, perhaps accurately, that their leader had finally given in to the tides of lunacy.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're even real," he says. "Perhaps you really are a trick of my own mind. A projection from your kind meant to throw me off course. If that's the case, they're doing a marvelous job of it."

What will she need? Food, clothing, and rest. And she'll need to let go of the head, won't she? Then Kylo can bury it or-

Ah, or hand it off to the villagers as proof of his and his Knight's capabilities. It seems like the girl has done part of his duties for him then, though hardly in a way he could have ever fathomed.

As he waits for the water to warm, Kylo starts dinner. Earlier when his Knights had come they had brought with them some fresh fish and the haunch of a stag that the older of the twin archers had shot. The fish can be raw, she'd probably prefer it that way, and the deer goes into the cooking pot with a few other staples to make a stew.

Clothing was a harder choice since he had brought only that one dress for her and she seemed to have completely ruined it. Maybe it could be mended, perhaps, but it would need a deep washing just like Kylo's own clothes and that would have to wait until morning. Until then, he pulls out from his wardrobe one of his longest shirts. Black, simple in design, and intended to be warn low as was the current fashion so it should hopefully reach her knees and keep her at least a little more modest.

Then it's back to the girl and she's waiting there, kill still in her hands except now she has it facing him to better display what she's brought home.

Kylo swallows. The girl looks so damned pleased with herself it's downright eerie.

"Very good," he keeps his voice light and even as he reaches out. "May I have that? I'll put it somewhere where we both can see it?"

The last thing he needs is this stubborn, insane girl trying to fight him for the severed head of her enemy. She looks at the head and then his hand, the gears in her mind clearly running on overtime. With jerky movements she reaches out, extending the prize to him but making him come more than halfway to meet her.

"That's very… yes. Thank you. Let's just put that right here for your bath, alright?"

The 'proper resting place' of the head is soon going to be inside a burlap sack placed far out of sight if not out of mind, but until then Kylo has to improvise. With a grimace he lifts a candle out of its holder and places the head inside it, ignoring the nearly obscene morbidness of what he's doing.

The girl's scowl eases when she must figure out that he's not just taking the bounty away but putting it on display. Kylo swallows and rolls up his sleeves, pouring one of the two buckets of water into the bathtub itself and saving the other to dip a rag into. Her whole body is filthy and wounded. He'll have to clean her off first before she gets in, if she'll let him.

She still frowns when he approaches her with a soapy rag and bucket of water in hand. She clearly doesn't like to be touched, old habits die hard, and Kylo himself has to admit to a newfound leeriness of his guest after what he's just seen.

"Give me your hand."

He reaches his own arm out to demonstrate when he wants. The girl cocks her head, regarding him. He starts to wiggle his fingers before deciding better of it.

 _Like this._

He projects the image of her stretching out for him into her mind. Her scowl grows more suspicious and her arms extend only a little.

She growls as he carefully pulls the tatters of the dress away from her body. Perhaps the noises she makes aren't exactly sounds of anger? Or she may well be annoyed with him because several of the many claw-shaped wounds that litter her body had started to scab over and removing the dress pulls at them.

When the garment's gone he tosses it aside and begins to carefully swab at her limbs. She swats at him and shrinks away whenever the rough cloth comes in contact with a wound, but this is an essential step. Kylo has to see the extent of her injuries before they can continue with getting her cleaned up.

Some of them are bad. It looks like more than one of the merfolk had attacked her. Or she attacked them. Luckily none are life-critical, but there are three along her back and abdomen that are continuing to ooze blood still.

"After we're done up I'll apply an ointment and bandages. Try not to pull them off, you'll just make it worse again."

The only response he gets is a particularly firm foot to his shoulder as he leans over he to clean off the far side of her stomach.

"Ticklish? Good gods, m'lady. I'm lucky you didn't bite me for that."

Indeed his neck had been within a dangerous distance, and the act of drawing so near rather reminded him of a trust test that Varactyl would do with placing their master's hand in their mouth.

When she's as ready as she'll be Kylo steps back and pours the rest of the warm water into the tub. The girl wastes no time. She pushes herself up with a grunt and immediately flops over the edge and inside. Water splashes over from her ungainly movement, and Kylo shakes his head at the mess she's made already of his bathroom.

"You must be very tired. Beheading has a way of taking it out of you."

Kylo himself has slain many of her kind in the same way this girl has done, and he carries the battle scars all along his own body to prove it.

Last time he had taken her to the bath she had been jubilant, splashing and playing about in the water. This time his guest sighs deeply, her bare chest rising just above the surface of the water before it sinks with her exhalation. Dark circles ring the bottom of her eyes and Kylo feels exactly the same way. It's several hours past midnight and neither of them has slept. Fine for the girl, she can and he hopes _will_ simply lounge around in bed all day, keeping herself out of trouble. For Kylo, however, the next twelve to twenty-four hours of his life will no doubt be filled with great hardship.

"I wonder how many of your kind I will kill tomorrow?" He picks up a lock of the mermaid's hair and she dives under the surface to avoid him. "I will aim for as many as I can, and I'm sure my men will slay many as well. Will they be your family? Your own clan? Was _she_ one of your own?"

He gestures behind him at the severed head on the shelf. His guest rises just enough out of the water so her eyes peep out from the surface. They're squinting at the edges as if she's smiling.

"You did that for me, didn't you? Why?"

He pokes at her mind. The head ducks under again.

Kylo moves to stand then. Time to prepare dinner or a very early breakfast depending on how you see it. A hand reaches out though, wrapping around his wrist. The girl holds onto him, pulling him back to her until he's leaning over the edge of the tub again.

He can see now this close the strain her efforts have taken on her. She's pale in parts, bruised in others. Her limbs shake from the effort to lift themselves, but she still holds on to him until he stops fighting and comes closer to her on his own will.

"What's wrong?"

One of her hands goes to his hair. She seizes a piece and pulls on it, but lets go when he huffs and makes an exaggerated pained face. The other hand goes first to his shoulder and she kneads at the flesh their with her palm.

"Searching for the juiciest spots to feast upon, M'Lady?"

Kylo says it mostly in jest. Mostly. Yet he still feels relieved when her hand moves on, now pushing at the broad width of his chest. She starts to yank on the fabric of his shirt and he realizes that she either wants him to remove it or she's about to do it herself.

"No, M'lady. Stop."

He pulls away and the growling begins. She grabs at him, trying to seize his hair and hold him in place. He catches her wrists and pulls them away. When he steps back she lunges, scrabbling at him through the air and trying to climb over the tub but she's too weak and slippery to do it in a timely manner.

"Calm yourself, please!"

He tries to push the notion into her mind. She relents, leaning half in and half out as she makes scooping motions at the air toward him.

 _Come back here._

He catches her message loud and clear. She projects it instinctively, and Kylo can almost palpably feel her frustrations that he's so far away.

Out of curiosity or maybe something else he moves closer again. When he gets back to the edge of the tub she flops back down, sending another smaller wave of water soaking him and the floor. She takes his hand again, yanking, and Kylo descends to his knees so she can drag his arm into the tub with her.

Bafflingly she calms down then, though she still holds onto his wrist with both her hands. She curls around it, the wounds on her back leaking again from the stretch and tinting the water with a slight pink hue.

She rests her head in his palm. Kylo blinks, wondering not for the first time about his own sanity. Her eyes start to slide to half closed then, but her grip never falters. She's shivering, though, and Kylo swallows. The water hadn't been as warm as it should ave been, and it's cooling to the touch already.

He waits for a few minutes like that. Her resting in his hand, her eyes closed but he can sense that she's not asleep. At peace, finally, but not asleep.

When her shivering gets worse he reaches under her with his other arm and lifts her out. She tenses at that, but he pushes the image of the fresh fish that await her if she doesn't fight him on this.

Kylo wraps her in several layers of towels, deciding to forgo dressing her for right now because she's probably warmer like this than in his clothing. The girl stands for a moment, but she's shaking. He can tell the effort to be upright is hard for her.

With a sigh Kylo picks her up again, carrying her out of the bath to place her next to the fire in the main room.

On their way out she grabs the severed head off the shelf and holds it close. Kylo rather deeply wishes she wouldn't.

* * *

Dawn is only but an hour away when Kylo finally sets his guest down in a nest of blankets.

She had fallen asleep during dinner, nearly literally nodding off face first into her bowl of stew. That's how Kylo knew she was truly exhausted, and by now he felt little better himself.

He took her back upstairs and tried to have no opinion about the way her arms twined themselves around his neck as he carried her. She curled up tight again when he laid her down on the bed, and within moments she was fast asleep.

If he was more ambitious, he would have used this situation to his advantage. Her resting mind was more open to him, and perhaps she could have unknowingly shined a beacon on his many questions regarding both her nature and her past.

However, Kylo was _tired_. Two, maybe three hour's of sleep and that's all he would have before the great hunt today. He tucks her in, wrapping her naked body up in all the layers. She doesn't move, her sleep so deep and complete.

Before he goes, however, he lightly rests a hand on her forehead and skims the surface of her mind searching for something that had become of great importance to him.

"Rey."

It suits her. Kylo couldn't have named her better himself.

Then he descends, retreating back to the shadows of his own room as he prays to the gods for the rest of the night to be peaceful.

* * *

author's note:

Another chapter and some character development! How do you like the shorter, more frequent chapters? They have their pros and cons for me as a writer because they're fast and fun, but I also feel like they ironically slow down the characters story arcs because it's more broken up. Kind of like the difference between a 30 minute sitcom and a 50 minute drama. What do you think?

* * *

Comment replies:

Thank you so much FFN community! I was beginning to wonder if their wasn't something quite wrong with this fic here because on AO3 I have more than 100 comments and here it was only 6 for 9 chapters and I was worried. But thank you so much for the lovely response to the last chapter! You all totally made my day!

Now, getting back to business:

Guest- Yes, this is definitely a slow burn. I'm sorry to hear you're feeling a little frustrated with this story, but maybe if I explain? Her Rey probably will never talk. It's like in The Little Mermaid, in a way. She may say Kylo's name (or better, call him Ben!) but a big part of their interactions is them learning to understand and fall for each other without words. Of course I understand if this isn't really your cup of tea, but thank you for taking the time to comment anyhow! I really appreciate it!

Lipwip- I'm so glad you liked this story and this last chapter! Rest assured, I've committed myself to resolving this story, I won't just drop it. I'm not sure how long it will be, in a way I feel like it's only just begun! But don't worry: if I get tired of it I promise I'll give it at least a few more chapters and round out the story and give it an ending. Not yet though! Now I'm still having so much fun with it and I hope you are too! Thanks for commenting!

.Feathers- I'm so glad you're liking this story too as well as some of my others! More chapters are coming soon, promise! Thanks for commenting!

Guest- Thank you for your kind feedback! I'll try and update regularly but no guarantees other than I'll really try! Thanks so much for commenting!

Ada- Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting! : )


	12. The Hunt (Part One)

Author's Note:

Okay, I promise I'm going to see this story through to the end! I promise! I know it started off as a desperately writer blocked 1 shot but goshdangit do I just really love this story, so I do solemnly swear I will give it a proper storyline. Sworn. I'm thinking something like 25 chapters maybe. I don't really have an outline, shit, but I have an idea where we're heading and we're not at the halfway mark yet. No matter what though, i will give this story enough chapters to come to some sort of resolution. Pinky swear!

* * *

The mermaid hunt was a bloodbath.

Kylo had expected nothing less, but he was still surprised by the sheer ferocity of the merfolk's counter assault. All of his men were with him along the now blood-streaked beach. Thirteen in total, Kylo and his Knights of Ren. A battle force powerful enough to fill the hearts of any enemy with crippling fear, but not the merfolk. Not now. He had never seen them like this. So wild and out of control.

"Silas, come with me! The rest of you stick close to each other. Don't let them separate you."

Together he and the fastest, most agile of his Knights break away from the main battle line. The mermaids had taken to strategy, apparently discerning that their enemies were out for blood and the best way to ensure it wasn't their own that was spilled was to lead them away from the safety of land.

Silas races past him, leaping from one half submerged boulder to the next with a dexterity Kylo couldn't help but be envious of. Behind him a fresh volley of arrows, courtesy of the twin archers, churned the waters to clear a path for them.

Kylo catches a flicker of scales glinting in the evening sun from the side of where he's currently trudging waist deep. It's a bold move from the mermaid, trying to tempt him to a place where he could still easily fight with only minor challenge.

"Faster!" he orders Silas, ignoring the bait.

A wave pushes him, nearly knocking him from his footing. Kylo swings his saber, letting the Force guide it straight to and then through the second mermaid who had been sneaking up behind him while its partner tried to distract.

A howl comes from the side, and Kylo leaps out of the deepest part of the crossing just as the waters start to churn with furious movement.

They were begin chased by three of them now. Maybe four or perhaps even five. He could see shadows of their shapes thrashing about the waters below his feet as he climbs up on the swinging and half-rotten rope bridge that spans the furthest most point of the beach with the abandoned breaker.

"There's two more here at least!"

Silas shouts it back to him. He had already crossed over and Kylo can see that _gods_ they really were surrounded now. A fresh wave of shouting echoes out from the shore. His Knights are slashing and hacking their way through their own battlefront. Aemon leading, Ria shortly behind him, and the twins high above. Further along at the far side of the beach was Taleisin and the rest were fighting their own assault. Three merfolk bodies were already piled on the wagon, ready to be rode with through the town to appease the bloodthirsty demands for vengeance from the villagers.

"In my four years with the Knights I have never seen them like this," Silas says. "Never seen any enemy so determined to chase us no matter what the cost to their own."

Kylo nods, agreeing silently with him. They had all gone into this hunt today expecting a challenge. What they received was frenzy.

A loud cry rings out and Kylo spins, readying himself. It was from Ria. He saw her for just a second as she was dragged into the water, but she was too far away to be helped. Aemon dives right in after her, and Kylo holds his breath as he watches from his distance, trying to focus the Force around them to give them strength.

A gloved hand sticks out of the water, carrying the severed head up proudly before the rest of Ria is seen slogging out of the surf. Behind her Aemon stumbles, dragged down by his heavier armor. He turns to Kylo holding up the rest of the body before he tosses it onto the shore to be collected later.

Silas snorts, mirroring Kylo's headshake of disapproval.

"Careless of her to get dragged down," he comments. "But they got it done. They got the kill."

There was an undertone of jealously to his words that Kylo had expected. Just because the Knights were a band of brothers didn't mean that hot spirited competition didn't flare up during the throes of battle.

Kylo slides the faceplate of his helmet back down, hiding his smirking face from view.

"Sounds like they're showing us up then, Brother. Let's not stand for that."

Silas was the second youngest, just a few month older than Taleisin. He was never one to turn down a dare, and he spins almost faster than Kylo can see as he races down the rocky slopes of the breaker.

This rocky construct had been built by the villagers long ago. It's first use had been to stop the steep walls of sea ice that formed during winter from being swept into the hire, destroying every docked ship in its path. Later it had served as an essential lookout point during the war with the Winterton Hold. Since then, before the sudden surge in merfolk assault, it had been relegated to a risky fishing jetty used only by the bravest of fishermen.

The breaker was a treacherous place in good weather. Now, cold, windswept, and filling with evening mist, it made for a hellish spot to try and fight such a dangerous enemy. But it was also one of the few location they could go out into the deeper waters while still staying mostly on land.

"Keep a watchful eye," Kylo warns, "we're out of sight from the others. We're on our own now."

Quickly but carefully and deliberately they head further out. There was a submerged pier here that, when the tides would allow, would be dry and out of the water. Now Kylo and his Knight had to cross knee-deep to the small stone platform that signaled the northernmost tip of the island.

Behind them the sounds of fighting continue on, muffled and reflected by the central heap of the breaker. Kylo would know if any of his Knights were struck down, but he trusted them in their abilities. It was he and Silas that were taking the greatest risk, but also the greatest opportunity to end their hunt swiftly.

"There!" Silas shouts, pointing at a ripple seen just behind a cresting wave.

It was moving toward them. Unlike on the beach, the merfolk here had ample space to attack. It was only those with legs that were at a disadvantage. He and Silas instinctively move back to back, turning slowly in a circle to watch all sides of them.

"If they all come at us-" Silas starts to say.

"We will not lose focus. Listen to the Force. It will guide us to victory."

Another wave crests. A darker shape. A flicker of light where there shouldn't be.

Two mermaids leap out together, surging forward in a frenzy of limbs, scales, and teeth.

Kylo closes his eyes, spins, and feels his sweeping saber cut through their flesh. Silas is thrown back against him. Two more mermaids are on him, one wrestling in his grip and the other pulling at his legs.

Kylo stabs the lower clean through like she was on a spit. Silas cuts the higher clean in half, using the Force to hurl the remains onto the rocks where they can get them later.

"Two down," his Knight says, his voice breathless but almost merry. "No, three down. Finish her off quick and let's push further out."

Kylo grimaces. His kill hadn't been clean. The mermaid was choking on her own blood, his saber still pierced through her thrashing body.

He pushes against her shoulders, using his boot as leverage to slide his blade free. The dying creature looks up at him then, her face contorted in a pained snarl of pure rage. Another stab and he finishes her, putting her out of her misery. In that last second before her life leaves her eyes she looks up at him again, her face slackening. For a second, just one second, she looks like someone else.

And then a tail whips at the back of his legs, knocking him clean off his feet with all of the strength of a Rawl.

Stupidly Kylo cries out, his lungs filling with water. Limbs are all around him, his gloved hands punching at against hard scales as he gets dragged down deeper and deeper. The surface grows dimmer, stretching further away as he gets pulled into the depths. A razor sharp row of teeth sink into the leather of his arm guards. After the last fight Kylo had doubled up on his armor. It protected his neck from being torn out, but it made him sink like a stone, his limbs heavier and slower to fight back.

Feral hands claw at his face, nails scratching at his skin in an effort to tear out his eyes. Kylo headbutts the mermaid in front of him, gaining himself enough room to stab pout blindly into the now nearly pitch black waters.

A yank of the Force stops his descent. Silas must have seen his leader fall is trying to drag him out. Another stab and his blade strikes something that gives. This deep down he can't hear the scream but he can feel the pain of his victim. It makes the others on his even angrier. A stronger tug and Kylo grits his teeth as he kicks forward, the upper front plate of his armor being wrenched half off him.

He can see them now. They're near the surface and there are three of them. It would have been four except the one he'd stabbed has fled, denying him of the prize of displaying its flesh.

Water continues to fill his lungs, burning cold and signaling Kylo's own approaching death. He won't panic, though. He will follow his own words and keep focused.

Nails sharp as glass drag across his now unprotected chest, sending searing pain blooming in its path. That was a mistake on the mermaid's part. So desperate to hurt him that the creature didn't realize it was giving itself away.

Kylo stabs again, skewering her just as Silas's arms wrap around his shoulders and drags him up.

He's unceremoniously shoved against a rock. Kylo lands face first, nearly colliding with another dead mermaid aw he hauls his own latest kill up. This time he doesn't look her in her eyes as he cleaves her head clean off.

Silas breathlessly collapses next to him. He's bleeding heavily as well, his lighter armor proving far too ineffective against their enemies natural weapons.

"Are you-"

" _Yes_."

Kylo heaves himself over, collapsing back against the rock. His wounds are severe. Worse than before, and he was lucky the mermaids ad only gotten the top half of his chest plate off or they could have well been fatal.

"How many?"

He pushes himself first to his knees then to his feet with a pained huff, ignoring Silas's outstretched hand.

"I got two, you got one," his Knight tells him. "And the one from earlier. But forget that, _w_ _hat happened_? I saw you leaning over her and then one of them just came out from nowhere. I couldn't get to you in time."

But you should have sensed her coming. Silas doesn't say that part out loud. He doesn't have to. Kylo's mistake had been worse than amateurish. It was sloppy. He and his Knights were never sloppy.

"She looked like a human."

It's the only answer he has. Kylo looks down at himself. He feels lightheaded, blood flowing freely from the heavy slashes torn across his chest. The solid rocks under his feet feel like their moving, and Silas draws nearer before he waves him away.

"Leader-"

"She looked like a human," he repeats. "One look. For just one moment. Too much like a bloody human."

Kylo turns then, struggling his way back to the beach along the higher points of the breaker this time. Behind him Silas falls silent, but he can feel the weight of his Knight's stare as they both limp back to the others.

* * *

The villagers had prepared a small feast in their honor.

Kylo had heard their cries and cheers of support as he and his men crossed over the hill to the edge of town. The Knights had returned, battered and bloody, but victorious. A far bigger celebration would be held tomorrow once there had time to prepare, but for now they had been met in the village circle with enthusiastic fanfare, a small bonfire, and a table full of food and wine.

"This is the best I can do for you tonight, Leader. Tomorrow, in the morning once I have rested, I will heal you again."

Kylo nods, dismissing Taleisin from the rear room of healing hut. His own wounds had been the worst, though both Ria and Rowan, the longswordsman of the other half of his Knights, had their own pressing injuries to be handled as well. Taleisin was a skilled healer, but he was already exhausted from battle and there were limits to how far his powers could stretch over man.

For Kylo's part, he was half-healed and bandaged. A salve, rest, and the ghost of a chance at a good night's sleep would have to do him until morning. The village tailor had fresh clean clothes prepared at the ready of the Knights, and Kylo had chosen a high necked overshirt that would conceal the full extent of his injuries.

The wound on his face was unsightly, but not a serious offense. He only hoped that his guest at home would feel the same way.

"Leader! Join us! Put your feet up and share a pint."

Aemon kicked a chair backwards, pushing it out of Kylo to sit next to him. Judging by the swarthy color on his second in command's cheeks, he was more than a few pints down into the festivities already. Nor was he hardly alone, with both Rowan and the twins boisterously laughing and drinking with far more energy than such a day would normally leave them.

"Just for an hour, Aemon. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight, not on the dirty floor under a table with the rest of you."

He says it in jest, but already he can feel ripples of resistance to his plan come from a still stone-sober Ria. Kylo sits down quickly, hiding the fresh wave of pain that his still raw injuries bring with the movement.

"You have a long ride back, Leader. You should stay here. We'll have the innkeeper kick out whoever's staying in his back rooms. Get an early start with our plans tomorrow morning."

He frowns at Ria, then again at Taleisin who turns in his chair and leans closer in. Neither of them would touch alcohol, and their disapproval was written clear over both their faces.

"I won't be questioned," Kylo answers, picking up his tankard. "Besides, no one except the three of us will be up early tomorrow and you well know it."

The ale is good. Strong, but good. A platter laden high with mean, grains, and root vegetables is placed in front of him by a young and pretty serving girl who spends far too long leaning over and filling up his glass to the top. He waves her aside and she pouts but shimmies away, now approaching the greatly enthusiast twins.

Ria clears her throat, watching the display with a tired expression that's countered by Taleisin's slight smirk of amusement.

"Perhaps you are right, my Leader," she says. "But I have been watching you. You have not been yourself."

"You've been distracted," Taleisin agrees. "You've been making mistakes that you shouldn't have. Mistakes you've never made before."

Kylo frowns, but Ria leans in close, not letting him get away.

"Leader, you've been keeping secrets from us."

He meets her suspicious glare head on, and it's only a few moments before his subordinate submits and tips her head, dropping her gaze.

"Sir-"

"Ria." He pulls back, tipping his head to the side to frown at the other Knight behind her. "Taleisin. I understand your concern. I agree with it. I will do better but, and hear me well, _you will not question me_."

For a moment he senses they both want to argue. He may be their leader, but that doesn't mean they aren't allowed to speak up. Not tonight, though. Not until Kylo has rested, recovered, and prepared himself for this confrontation.

"Am I missing something?"

Aemon, perhaps not as intoxicated as he outwardly appears, butts his head into the conversation. All around him the rest of the Knights are in full carousing, but his second must not have been so clueless to the sudden tension that had gripped three of his brothers.

A tension that is abruptly interrupted by a shrill cry of high pitched, feminine laughter. One of the twins have the serving girl over his knee while his brother… well he's either playing her buttocks through her skirt like a drum set or helping her rid herself of a very cheeky spider.

"Gods," Ria mutters, falling back into her seat.

"Do they look like two people who will catch the dawn wakeup call?" Kylo asks, reachign over to snag her untouched tank of ale for himself.

She mouths the word 'no', closing her eyes and looking for all the world as tired as Kylo himself feels.

Another shriek of mirth, and Balen, the taller and minutes older of the twins, stands up to wobblishly throw the girl over his shoulder. She hoots and hollers, her hands merrily taking their own turn on the man's backside as he carries her off. Gareth, his twin, follows close by, his bent arms spilling over with tanks of ale he's carrying for the rest of their festivities.

Next to him Aemon snorts, taking his leader's cue and motioning for Taleisin to hand over his tankard to him as well.

"I never quite get used to seeing that," he admits with a laugh. "To seeing two brothers so happily share a woman together. Do you suppose they have her at the same time, or do they politely take their turns?"

Kylo has no answer for that, and he finishes his drink in one long go before another nearly magically appears in front of him. Truly the villagers must be grateful, though he quickly dismisses the next servant girl and signals his three most sober Knights to move close so he can speak quietly.

"The merfolk," he begins, "the way they were today was wrong. They fought us like they didn't care what it cost them, but they had nothing to gain but spill our blood. It was like they were _possessed_."

Ria's face grows grave.

"I sensed a great disturbance in the Force from them," she says. "Something like never before."

"Aye, like never before," Aemon agrees. "They knew we were hunting them and they didn't even try to flee. They met us head on."

Taleisin nods, signaling his solidarity with his brother's concerns.

"I fear this, whatever it is, will only grow worse.," he says. "We must find the cause and soon."

Kylo brings the tankard to his lips but then pauses. Across the long table from them is a pie with a pattern in the shape of a fish decorating it's crust. He clears his throat, playing off his momentary distraction as a result of the ale.

"Maz then? The old wise woman? Has anyone spoken to her yet?"

Taleisin shakes his head.

"I went to her this morning, but her servant said she's gone off into the hills to search for herbs. Perhaps Ria should go to find her? I don't know if she'll be able to help, but she doesn't like men. Ria or Mayenne would be better."

Mayenne was the other female Knight. She had started with the group during the early part of the celebration but Kylo doesn't see where she's gone since then. Neither she nor, interestingly, Rowan.

"Maz likes men fair enough," Ria counters, "they just have to be the right man. Not some brute who kicks down her door and demands she look at his bum because he fell on it after being too drunk to

stay on his horse and Taleisin would have none of his complaint."

Despite everything Kylo laughs at that. Behind him he can hear Aemon grumble. Something sulky about how 'it's happened to us all and he's gonna go take a piss if you're just going to talk about him like he's not here.' He stands then, the whole table shaking as he leans on it to steady himself.

"There's always the Island, Leader," he says before he pushes off to make good on his promise. "It may come to that. It may well come to that."

Both Taleisin and Ria fall silent. The Island. The Ilha Dos Sabios. The Island of the Wise Men. It was a place known by many names, but none of them mattered. All that did was that it was far away, nearly impossible to find, and Kylo and his Knights were as unwelcome there as it was dangerous. It was also one of the only places where the Old Masters might still be found. If Maz couldn't provide the answers they needed…

"Maz first," Kylo finally says. "We will try her. If she has nothing for us, then… then we will decide. It's a hard call. We leave for the Ilha and we leave the village unguarded. Half of us go and half of us stay, and we're only half as strong."

And already all together they were having trouble keeping back their enemies. It went beyond the scope of just the bloodthirst-frenzy mermaids, if the Winterton Hold heard of the village being half guarded old grudges could well rear their ugly heads again.

"Master?" Taleisin asks. "Should I go, or Ria to speak to Maz? I can leave as soon as dawn breaks, but you and the others will need more healing. I can go back with you to the tower tonight and, after I've had a few hours rest, I can-"

" _No._ " Kylo dismisses him in an instant. "I will go back alone. Stay here, tend to the others, soothe their aching heads in the morning to revive them. Ria will go but, if you can't find her by mid-afternoon, come back. It's too dangerous for any of us to be out alone at night. Tomorrow evening we will meet here again for the celebration, and hopefully by then the way ahead will be clear to us."

Kylo stands before either of them can argue. He finishes off his drink before picking up his barely-touched plate and offering no explanation as to why. On his way as he returns to his horse he snatches the fish pie and tucks it close under his arm.

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Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay! I've been so busy, I just started a new graphic design business in December and I've been transferring my website from one host to another and making a lot of covers and, yeah, it's been crazy.

But now I'm back! No Reylo this chapter, sorry! Next chapter though Kylo comes home and he has all these worries that he might have to leave his special lady behind to go to some island way off in nowhere. But at least he brought shnookums a fish pie again, right?

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Comment replies:

lipwip – Haha, yeah, Kylo didn't know what to say about the severed head. He was raised with manners, though, and proper manners tell you to always thank your gift giver for their generosity no matter how… drippy their offering was. So Kylo was just being polite! And maybe a little terrified, that too, lol. thanks so much for commenting!

.Feathers – Aha! I had thought about Kira, actually! And I went through all kinds of different scenarios where Kylo found out her name, but I eventually decided on Rey being a woman of action and telling him herself. And I can't say about the chapter length other than I will try and update more often if I can. thank for commenting! This story doesn't get hardly any comments and each one means so much to me so really thank you!

Guest – I'm glad you're liking their slow progression! This is a slow burn, but it's also not in a way. They've gone from mortal enemies to cuddling hands and painting each other in just a few days time. And how could Rey resist Kylo's toes? He was even wiggling them at her! Kriffing temptress, that's what he was! Thanks for commenting!


	13. Interlude

Chapter Summary:

Have you ever seen those videos where the owner sets up spy cams around to see what their pets gets up to when they're not at home?

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Author's Note:

I've gotten a few requests for a Rey-POV chapter. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but I hope you all enjoy this brief interlude into the mind of a curious mermaid.

And also a little bit of some M rated content! Just a touch though, pun very much intended.

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 **Chapter 13: When the Knight's Away, the Mermaid Will Play (Interlude)**

The head was gone.

That was a disturbing discovery. The head was gone, and so was her human. Rey at first had been angry with him for that, but then the worry had set in.

No human. No head.

He hadn't eaten it, had he? That would be bad. You don't eat the head. Everyone knows that.

Or, at least, Rey had thought that everyone knew that. Unfortunately, her human wasn't especially bright. He was strong, she'll give him that. She liked looking at him and seeing how strong he was. When she'd gone to his sleeping cave and he wasn't wearing that black _thing_ he always had on himself, she'd seen then how strong he was. He looked like a merman from the waist up. A really good, strong merman.

Strong. Good looking. Nice to her. All the qualities that she could ask for in a potential mate. Pity he wasn't her kind. Pity he wasn't very smart.

He'd proven that when he'd gone and gotten himself _bitten_. Bitten by a lowly shallow-reefer, of all insults. Back before _this thing_ that had happened and Rey still had her tail, she could have demolished a whole herd of shallow-reefers. She'd done pretty well now, even without her tail. These other appendages that she has now- Rey didn't know what to call them, maybe lower arms? Anyhow, they seemed to do very well on land but were rubbish in the water. And even with her lower arms getting in the way she'd still gotten her head. Her prize.

Sure, she'd taken a few wounds. That was fine. She was deep-water. No karking low-reefer should have dared bite the maybe-mate of a deep-water.

And no maybe-mate of hers would be stupid enough to eat the head, and Rey really, truly wants to believe that her human didn't do that. Maybe he took it with him, then?

Rey had been deeply asleep when he'd left, but the light of dawn and the heavy sound of the entrance barrier closing had woken her up.

By the time she'd gotten out of her nest and down the stone shelf to the bottom of their home her human was long gone. She'll have to sleep next to the barricade next time. Rey really wants to see where he's going. She'll need to follow him so she can protect him. Protect him because he's really not very bright, if she hadn't mentioned that before. Her human might just stupidly walk right into a gang of low-reefers. They might see him and think to themselves that hey, he looks like he might make a good mate for _them_. Especially if he had taken that black thing on his upper body off again.

Unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. If she's going to keep him, she may have to mark him as hers soon.

But he wasn't there and the longer Rey waited the more she found herself getting bored. She'd eaten the rest of the food he'd brought her last night. It was cold and it didn't have fish in it so it wasn't very good. She ate it all anyhow, and then her tummy hurt.

She'd gone outside next. Her human had thought that big heavy thing in front of the entrance would keep her in? Pffffft. Dummy. He was lucky he looked so good, that was for sure.

The fresh sea air had helped. Maybe she had eaten too much. She couldn't move as fast as before, even if her strange new lower-arms weren't very fast to begin with.

But she did her duty. She patrolled. She carried the metal circle she'd found before in her hands. It seemed to work really well to cut off the low-reefer's head, so maybe she would luck up and another one would come too close and let her get another trophy to show to her maybe-mate.

No luck, though. The waters she could get to easily were quiet, almost as if all the merfolk had left for somewhere else that day. She'd thought about catching some fish and bringing back some proper food with her. Mating was supposed to be a give and take, right? She'd need to show her human that she could provide for him, too.

Of course, she had already brought back a head with her. Not that she was bitter that her generosity had just disappeared the next day or anything. Not at all.

It was too cold, though. Land was much colder than water. When she'd been fighting the low-reefers the pretty white thing he'd put on her had gotten torn. Without it, Rey reluctantly had to admit that her dumb human was right. It was too cold to be outside without it.

When she'd gotten home he still wasn't there. The big hot box where she'd seen him put wood in wasn't hot anymore, but Rey knew not to touch it. She'd tried before, the last time her human had left. She'd opened it up just like she'd seen him do but then it had been much, _much_ too hot. She'd tried to reach her hand into the glowing red inside but she smelled the little hairs on her arm start to singe and she'd quickly retreated.

So that was fire, right? The other deep water mermaids had told her about fire. Or at least the few that would talk to her. They had explained that 'fire' was something you might see on a human ship as it was sinking. To not go too close to the flames even if they were very pretty. The other mermaids had said this was a great opportunity. If the ship was on fire, pretty often the humans would jump into the water to get away from it. It was literally like their meal diving right over to them.

Maybe that was fun when you were in the water, but now that she was inexplicably bound by land the black fire box seemed too dangerous. Better not touch it.

Then the day had gotten even more boring. It had rained, and she didn't want to go out anymore. The fish would be hiding, and her human wasn't even around to enjoy it if she brought him another gift.

Fine then. Nothing else to do. Time to take a nap.

Rey tried first in her own sleeping den. Her human had made it for her and had gone to some effort to try and make it nice for her. See? That was good, right? He may be kind of dimwitted, but there was good intentions. Maybe he was trying to show her that he could be a good mate even if he let himself get bitten by something even dumber than he was?

It was too bright up here, though. That was the problem. Even if it was raining, she couldn't sleep like this.

 _H_ _is_ den, however… She'd seen how nice and dark and quiet it was. And, if they were going to be mated, she should test out his nest, right? Nothing wrong with that, just checking out what all her options were.

And it smelled like him too! That was nice! Rey could just curl up tight in his nest and be warm and maybe she would even surprise him when he got back and pop out from here when he started to look for her? That would be fun. He didn't seem to like it when she wasn't around, and that was pretty ironic and selfish of him, once Rey got to thinking about it.

Then she had gotten to thinking about other things as well. She'd spent some time before studying her new form. She missed her tail something fierce, but these new lower arms of hers weren't _so_ bad. They were confusing, though. Things like how to relieve herself had just sort of come naturally. It seemed like all her old parts were still there, just not tucked away safely like they had been when she'd had her tail.

She'd poked herself there a few times. Curiosity had gotten the better of her and she'd given a few exploratory passes with her hands. Sometimes her curiosity had rewarded her with an ouch, but then another time… another time it hadn't been too bad.

Maybe she hadn't been comfortable enough before? Her human's nest was definitely more comfortable than her own. Maybe she should try it again here?

This time it had seemed to go better. Rey had closed her eyes and just concentrated on what she was feeling. Her human's room was nice and dark and warm and smelled like him. That all seemed to help. Her first few prods at herself hadn't been too fun, but then she discovered a new spot. A place on her new body that _really_ liked to be touched.

Oh! That was fun! Rey liked that. Fun, but frustrating. She knew what was supposed to happen, but it just wouldn't. No matter how she circling that new spot. Rey could feeling her body coiling up, that part was familiar. How to see herself through to the end, though, was becoming a very infuriating mystery.

Mysteries have answers, though. Rey was determined. She was on a mission. She was- she was- she was so damned close and she still couldn't do it!

Rey had kicked at the covers then, clawing them and ripping them as she threw her tantrum. Why wasn't this working? Was it her new body? Was this just something she couldn't do anymore? That would be terrible. She had almost started to like her lower arms, but if they were defective like this and she couldn't-

No. _No._ Don't give up. One more try.

This time Rey tried to hone in on the problem. Part of her hurt when she jambed her fingers at it, part of it felt really good. She just needed to figure out exactly what was what. It was like… like her fingers weren't quite long enough. Another design flaw? Her human had long fingers, though. She'd noticed them before, when her face was in his palm earlier. Not in this context, but she'd noticed. Back then she'd thought then that they'd looked tasty, but not as tasty as the wiggling things at the end of his arm legs. Those had been short and chubby and bite-sized, but her human's fingers? They were long. Agile. Thicker than her own.

Could he do this better for her? Would he? It was starting to get really good now, the longer she was picturing his hands. She could almost see them now. Almost feel how they would be on her. His fingers could reach much better than her own. Her human may be dumb, but he had to be good for something. Rey had a hunch that _this_ something might be exactly what he excelled at.

It had come as an incredible relief to Rey when she discovered that yes, her new form could do that. _All_ it needed was her imagination and a little extra time to get down to business.

She'd torn up her human's nest even more during the throes of it. Hopefully he won't be angry with her for that. No matter, she'll find a way to make it up to him. It'll be be fine.

Andn ow that she had proven her point to herself, it was time to make her next one: that what had just happened wasn't a fluke. Once she'd come down and caught her breath, her new form seemed to be telling her it wasn't done yet.

Time for practice to make perfect. And she'd already ruined his nest so she might as well just keep going until he got home, right?

The rest of the afternoon passed by not nearly as dully as it had began.

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Night came and her human still wasn't back.

Rey started to grow concerned. She'd fallen asleep after repeated rounds of playtime, and when she'd woken up there were stars in the sky and the house was quiet.

Quiet, cold, dark, and empty.

This was her fault. She should have followed him this morning. Rey had no idea where he was. All she could do was hope he came back soon and in one piece.

He would probably be hungry, though. She'd eaten all the food he'd left for her, and now she was starting to feel bad about that. She should have left him some. Shown him that she could be a good mate, not a selfish one.

She can fix that, though. Her human was strong, he'll be alright. He has to be. And, when he comes back to her just fine and safe, she can surprise him with the fish dinner she's about to go out and catch.

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Author's Note:

So I spent a good part of my Thursday afternoon writing a chapter of a hyperactive mermaid running around outside before rubbing it out and falling asleep. Yep. Adulting. Good stuff.

Next chapter we're getting back to the real Reylo plot, though I may have another Rey-interlude every now and then too just for fun!

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Comment Reply:

.Feathers : I'm very lad you're enjoying this story! It's been very popular on AO3, but not so much here on FFN so it really means a lot to hear that readers here are still sticking with it! More of a badass Kylo? Alright, I'll see what I can do! He got a little distracted with his thoughts last chapter, but soon it may be time for laying down the law with the merfolk on frenzy.

Thanks so much for commenting!


	14. What've You Got Going On Under There?

Author's note:

11:42PM and this is getting the rough edit. Will fix mistakes tomorrow, promise, until then enjoy and do leave a comment if you'd like! :)

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"Wherefore art thou, oh Lady of the House?"

Kylo couldn't claim to be surprised that his mermaid wasn't home when he got back. It was very late, or perhaps very early, by the time he had reached the watchtower after leaving the celebration. Along the way he had snatched up – literally snatched up – a dress for her from a line of washing.

And now here he was, fish pie and other gifts in hand, only to be greeted by a dark and cold house with only him by his lonesome.

Kylo sighs and puts his offerings away. There was no point is looking for her. The night was dark with gloom, the fog having crept up the hill from the shore and remaining rather spilled across the land with such a thickness that it had made his horse uneasy and he'd had to use a touch of the Force to sooth it into continuing forward.

The girl could have gone anywhere. No point in looking, though Kylo ignites a shielded lantern on the front porch just in case.

"It's up to you if you come back to me or not, M'Lady. Though after my day spent killing your own I suppose you may well not anymore."

True, but a rather unhappy thought nonetheless. Especially with the very real possibility of a month long trip looming so close on the horizon like a storm cloud on Kylo's mind. He would like to see the girl- see _R_ _ey_ \- again just once more before that.

"You won't be here when I get back, will you? It will be well into winter then, and the Knights that stay will need to use my tower. You'll have to go back to-"

To… where? Where did she come from? What will happen to her when he's gone and can no longer keep her safe? Safe from the villagers and his Knights and even her own kind?

"You shouldn't be my responsibility, My Lady. But you are. Somehow our fates seem to have been linked together, even if it wasn't for so long."

Kylo had spent a lot of time thinking about how the girl came to be in her life. The chances of finding the one tame mermaid in the entire ocean and having her just happen to wash up on his private shore… It seemed impossible. Someone or something had willed this. She had been wanted to be found.

"Do come back soon."

He says is to no one as he brings in an armful of kindling and logs with him as he comes inside. The stove still had embers, and once he gets it burning again he moves to fill up the two metal buckets that he keep warming on top.

They were filled already. Overfilled, really, with a small puddle of water splashed underneath them.

"Did you do that?" he asks. "Did you bring those in before you left?"

The girl must have, unless some other random stranger had broken into the Master of the Knights of Ren's personal abode to fetch him tonight's bathwater.

Kylo smiles then, the muscles of his face twitching slightly in protest to the unfamiliar move. The girl had done it, hadn't she? That was- that was oddly sweet of her, there was no other way to describe it.

"Thank you." He address the leather wrapped handle of the closer bucket where her hands must have once rested. "I suspect this was more for your intended benefit than my own, but it's a gesture much appreciated nonetheless."

He places them atop the warming circle of the stove and starts to slowly undress as he heads back to his bedroom. His armor is in poor shape, torn and bent badly in several places from when the mermaids had pulled him under. The shirt beneath lies in tatters, fresh blood seeping still from his bandages. He will have to seek out another round of healing from Taleisin tomorrow, but for now there's little more he can do at this late hour that take a much needed bath and get some rest.

"I hope you're somewhere warm, Rey."

The heat of the new fire hasn't yet reached the further parts of the hallways, and there's a miserable biting chill to the air. If it's this unpleasant inside he can only image how it would be to a naked, shivering former mermaid no doubt hunched over herself under a rock.

"You shouldn't have left, M'Lady. I don;t know why you did. At least in here there isn't a draft."

Maybe he hadn't left enough food? A ridiculous notion, but the girl's appetite rivaled his own or even a brute like Rowan. And he'd sealed the front door quite securely before he had left but it didn't truly surprise him that-

"What in the _gods_?!"

His bed looks like it has been mauled. The sheets are thrown about, long rips shredding them in places and balled up into a messy tangle in other.

Just the bed, though. The rest of the room seems as he had left it.

Kylo gapes in disbelief, pausing for a moment to take in the spectacle. He lights another candelabra, holding it closer in one hand while his other rests on the hilt of his saber out of cold instinct.

No girl. No blood. No sign that she had been attacked. Just torn messy sheets and no explanation.

"It looks like a wild animal came here and made this its wallow."

Master of the Knights of Ren or not, Kylo still feels highly ridiculous as he checks under the bed for a monster. Perhaps a wild boar or-

No, nothing. Neither in the closet. The room is as empty as the rest of the tower.

"How strange."

Kylo throws the sheets of, grimacing as the movement of his arm aggravates the wounds on his chest. He shouldn't get his bandages wet, but he has fresh ones in the storeroom. After such a long and bloody day taking a bath has far more appeal than avoiding a lecture from Taleisin tomorrow.

Kylo strips the rest of his clothes off, throwing his destroyed shirt into the pile of the equally ruined bedding.

"Keep a mermaid around and she still lets a feral animal just wander on in."

It was surprisingly careless of her. Kylo would have rather thought that anything four legged nearby would have met a savory end at his ravenous mermaid's hands.

When he gets to the bathing room he fills the tub and eases himself. A loud, rather rude sounding grunt leaves his lips as the nearly scalding water stings against the wounds on his chest, but soon the heat works its magic. Soon the memory of the bloodbath on the shore begins to fade to a low back ground hum in his too-tired mind.

"Taleisin won't like this."

He won't, but it doesn't really matter, does it? One of the advantages of being their leader is that his men allow him extra leniences that they wouldn't let pass with each other. It was an exception that Kylo had been relying on more heavily than he should when it came to hiding the presence of the girl.

"What am I going to do with you?"

He dips his head fully under the water after he says it. The cuts on his face sting only a little, and if he cleans them well they should look like almost nothing.

Nothing to bother the girl or raise eyebrows at the big festival tomorrow.

Kylo sighs deeply under the water, the bubbles from it rising up along with head as he surfaces. The festival tomorrow. The big celebration in their honor. It was something Kylo was greatly not looking forward to. The villagers may value the work of him and his Knights, but that doesn't mean they truly wanted them there. Even before at the meal when the servant girl was flirting first with him and then with the twins, there was still a palpable note of communal fear to the air.

Powerful warriors talented in the dark arts. Kylo and his men had come from far away, been sent there by the Council to bring peace to the war torn land. They had succeeded in their task largely but not completely. An unsteady truce had been forged with the Winterton hold, ending two whole generations o bloodshed and bringing about the start of much needed trade again. Progress was being made. Things were getting better.

And then the merfolk had gone berserk.

Kylo unwinds the now soaked and sagging wraps from around his chest and tosses them onto the floor next to the tub. He regards the wounds on his chest. Teeth. Claws. Carelessness. What in the world was wrong with them and why wasn't the girl the same way? Why couldn't he read her mind or even feel her presence at all?

Tomorrow, gods and good luck be willing, maybe he'll get an answer to at least one of those questions from Maz. The old woman was a strange one, but she was the best and only choice that could keep them here where they were needed the most.

A creak comes from outside and Kylo smiles lopsidedly. Definitely the sound of a human, and most likely a barefoot one at that.

"You were out late, M'Lady," he calls through the door. "I trust you had a more pleasant day than I have?"

No answer, of course. Kylo probes with his mind, seeking that blank space and unsurprisingly finding it just outside. The doorknob turns. Turns again. Then the door shakes and a very familiar sounding frustrated growl echoes.

"Why yes, I did lock it. Unlike yourself, M'Lady, I'm not in the habit of wandering about unclothed in open spaces. There's some food for you in the kitchen. Help yourself if you haven't already."

Which she most likely has. Kylo wouldn't be a touch surprised if half his pantry had been raided again.

The door shakes again and a louder growl rings out.

"Kitchen. Food. Eat."

Kylo projects an image of a fish pie at the void. The shaking stops for a moment, then renews in greater force.

"It's locked. You'll have to wait for your turn."

Kylo fumbles a few times with trying to figure out how to project the concept of a locked door to his guest's mind. He eventually settles on a zoomed in view of the door's keyhole.

Another pause and then a strange prickle tingles through their connection. Kylo frowns, sitting straighter up in the steaming waters.

"What are-"

The key starts to turn. Oh she had caught his message loud and clear, but Kylo had unknowingly been telling exactly _how_ to get in and not why she shouldn't.

He sticks out his hand, fingers up and palm out, and uses the Force to keep the door firmly closed.

"Very clever indeed, little one, but there's the human concept of 'privacy' that you must-"

A far greater push of the Force sends the door bursting open, nearly flying off its hinges.

Rey seems as surprised by what she's just done as he is. They gape at each other for a minute, her wide eyes blinking at him. She looks healthy and well. He had been worried that she might have gotten herself mauled by her kind again.

"You're wearing the dress. Do you like it? It's warmer than the last one."

The girl's eyes may have started off wide, but they immediately narrow as she takes him in. Kylo frowns, leaning forward and angling his knees strategically higher in the water line.

"My lady?" he asks, cautions rising as he hears her suck in a deep breath.

She stomps over to him stiffly, her face turning white and her hands squeezing into fists so tightly her the bones of her knuckles were practically jutting out

Kylo quickly reaches to grab for the washing cloth hanging over the bathtub edge, but the girl is quicker. She snatches his wrist and yanks hard, pulling as if she means to drag him out of the water. Kylo clings to the rim, kneeling awkwardly as he pries her fingers off of him with his free hand. His own inner anger starts to bubble up at her rude behavior, but then he realizes what she's really after and his retort dies before it can leave his lips.

His wounds. With him kneeling like this she's chest high with them, and he can see a look of pure fury in her eyes as her gaze darts from one jagged, angry cut on his skin to the next.

Then she looks up at him, her lips curling into a feral snarl and she squeezes her hand against his, digging her nails into the fleshy part of his palm.

If this were anyone else he would have thrown her across the room by now. No one gets to treat him like this without dire consequences, but something new in her eyes gives Kylo pause. Fury, yes, but not pure like he'd just seen. Now it's replaced with a deeper frown, her lips pulling down and the bottom one pushing out into a sort of pout.

She looks disappointed in him. There's no other word to describe it.

Kylo blinks and lets her wrist go as her eyes start to tear up. The girl stumbles back a little, her lips now pressing together into a tight line. Her mind is as much a mystery to him a sever, but there's no hiding her expression of a woman great and grievously upset.

"M'-"

Kylo doesn't get any farther than that start of a sound before her hand lashes out, striking him hard enough on the back of his skull to leave a ringing behind it.

She recoils then, stomping to the corner of the room and turning her back to him, leaving Kylo sputtering in disbelief as realization dawns.

"Did you just hit me upside the head?!'

It was the sort of clap a mother would give to correcting an under performing child, except coupled with a grown and lunatic mermaid's angry strength now behind it.

The girl crosses her arms, her whole back trembling with barely contained emotion.

She's standing on his only towel and robe. He'll have to get them from her It's ridiculous. His whole world with her in it is ridiculous.

The washcloth draped strategically and held with one hand will have to do. She looks over her shoulder when she hears the water slosh as Kylo gets out. He returns her glare with his own, matching her earlier stomp with his own far louder one. It's a tricky thin to look intimidating when you're soaking wet and only wearing an insufficient washcloth, but Kylo projects the image of being the most feared man in the Kingdom that he is as he looms over his infinitely rude guest.

"Move," he orders.

When she doesn't he grabs her shoulder, pushing at her, and she spins to face him fully. This time the anger's back in her eyes and she pokes him hard right in the square of his chest just above his biggest wound. She juts her jaw out, cocking her head to the side as her eyes narrow even further.

"I expect you'll want to behead this one too, then?" Kylo leans closer, bringing his face deeply into her personal space. Dangerously so, if she's feeling inclined to bite him. "Well, M'lady, I'm afraid you can't. I've already don't it, and this time I've made sure to do it very well."

He projects the images into her mind backwards, starting off with the final, last memory he has of his attacker. Or rather, what was left of her as he and his men piled their trophies high on their cart to parade through the village.

For a moment the girl seems suitably impressed then, her eyes softening slightly as she receives his message. Then something rather odd happens. She reaches out, her arm slightly hesitant and jerky with the movement, and she hovers her hand over the front of his face.

Kylo can feel her tugging at his memories, trying to see what had happened before that point. She's clumsy with it. Worse than clumsy. Her attempts to use the Force with this degree of precision is roughly like trying to crack a robin's egg with an anvil, but Kylo inwardly grits his teeth and lets her try. He can stop her in the blink of an eye, but a curiosity to see what the reach of her growing powers are gets the better of him.

The images are pulled from his mind in the same sequence he had offered them. The girl sees him and Silas limp back to the others, a collection of dead mermaid dragging in a net behind them along the rocky shore. After that comes the before, of Silas helping drag up back up from the murky depths where he had fallen.

The girl starts to get agitated again at that. Her prowling through Kylo's memories because palpably more vigorous as she pulls even harder on their connection.

Then she gets to the part where he had hesitated, gaping down at the dying mermaid by his feet. The girl starts to hiss then, and Kylo quickly drabs her wrist as her fingers curl up close to his face like claws.

He'd killed the mermaid because it had been a mercy. A mercy to his enemy that he knew full well would not have been reciprocated. But his victim had distracted him. He had been careless. Fallen for their trap. Another one of her kind had come out of nowhere, lashing out and knocking him right off his feet. Snatching and grabbing into the dark briny deep.

The cry the girl makes is bone-chilling, their connection through the Force severing in an instant as she begins to pummel at him. The hand that he's not holding onto beats at his chest, slamming itself hard against the upper part of his sternum just above the now weeping wounds that his carelessness had brought him.

"Enough!" Kylo shouts, restraining her with both hands as she completely loses her mind.

The girl howls in a now familiar tantrum, her body thrashing and her teeth gnashing and snapping as he struggles to restrain her.

"What in the gods is wrong with you?!"

She kicks at him then, her head snapping from side to side as he tries to pin her at a self distance until she exhausts herself.

Then she stops just as soon as her fit began. She goes rigid and stalk-still, pressed back against the wall at Kylo's arms reach. Anger is clear in her eyes but now so is wide-eyed surprise.

Kylo follows her gaze. Down from his face. Down from his chest. Down to his-

"Oh gods!"

Kylo immediately covers himself with both hands, the washcloth now laying discarded and trampled on during their proceedings.

The girl blinks rapidly, her face falling slack.

"My- I- get out!"

He bends, snatching up the towel from under her feet. The girl steps back then, all the previous righteous fury in her seeming to have died away completely.

Only when Kylo is thoroughly concealed and modest again does he straighten. He can feel how his cheeks are burning, and his humiliation is only fueled by the girl's now contemplative expression.

"My Lady? Kindly leave so I may get properly dressed."

Her fingers flutter by her sides. She bites her lower lip, her eyes focused right at the apex of his indignity even if he's now covered.

it's a focused expression not so dissimilar to when she had been regarding his toes. Kylo straightens even further. He points to the door.

"Out. Please. Now."

He snaps his fingers. Her gaze remains where it was. He clears his throat and she reaches out, her hand extending for the towel but he immediately dodges.

" _My lady._ "

He points again at the door, shaking his hand for emphasis.

The girl finally looks up then. She crosses her arms around herself, biting the nails of one hand while the other makes a somewhat questionable open and closing gesture.

Then her hands drop and she reaches down, catching the edge of her dress and beginning to pull it up.

This time Kylo doesn't hesitate. He grabs the girl, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. Oddly she doesn't fight this at first, but it's only when he starts to drop her down outside the bathroom door that she begins to kick at his front and punch at his back.

Kylo slams the bathroom door in her face, locking it and tossing the key aside. Her angry, angry shout echoes, reverberating off the stone walls of the tower. The door jerks once with violence. She must have kicked it hard, he assumes. Then her cascade of growling snarls starts to fade, growing more distant and rising up as she ascends the stairs up to her room.

It takes Kylo a good few minutes to come down from his spire of anger himself, but the embarrassment over their encounter lingers for far longer.

* * *

The girl was giving him the silent treatment.

After Kylo had changed, first opting for the robe to see him to his room and then his thickest and most conservative garments to follow afterwards, Kylo had begun to feel…

Well, not _bad_. Not exactly. But he did think that he could have and should have handled that whole encounter better. The girl was obviously not in the a proper state of mind. He had probably terrified her with pinning her like that while he was thusly unattired. She hardly seemed a likely target to be worried about the proximity of a naked man so much taller and broader than she was, but clearly he had misjudged this softer and more feminine aspect of her mind.

So he had stoked the fire and set out two more buckets of water should she want a bath of her own. Then he had heated up the fish pie as well a a good, strong stein of buttered ale to accompany it.

When he knocked on her door, peace offerings in hand, there was no answer. A flicker of light came from under the crack. She must have learned to light the candles all on her own.

"M'Lady? I've brought dinner."

He sets the tray down and turns the handle on her door. It moves only an eight of a turn.

She had locked it. She had locked him out of his own bloody property.

Kylo sighs, resting his tired head against the wooden barricade. He was beyond exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep, but sleep would never come easy when there was an upset woman in the house. His father hadn't taught him much, but he had passed on that piece of wisdom at least.

"M'Lady," he tries again. "How about some fish pie? Your favorite? I know you can smell it from in there. It's very aromatic. _Very_. I know I'll never forget the scent no matter how hard I try."

A ping of interest pulses through the Force. Then it's quickly gone and Kylo closes his eyes, lightly thunking his head against the door again. He wants to sleep. He wants peace. He wants her to accept his apology for something he's not sure he should have to apologize for even to begin with.

He knocks. Silence. Somehow he can sense that she's standing there right on the other side of the door.

"I'm very tired," he tries once and last more. "Please? Rey? Just open the door a crack and I'll slide it through and be on my way."

On his way back to his still demolished bed, but Kylo is quite sure he could fall asleep on the edge of a crow's nest right at this moment.

The locks clicks. He pulls away enough for her to open it. She does it only a little, just so that one of here eyes can peep through the gap at him.

He picks up the unforgettable-smelling fish pie and holds it out to her. Surprisingly she doesn't move to take it.

"What's gotten into you tonight, Rey? What were doing out there in the black and cold?"

The girl smiles.

It's a small smile but it grows the longer she looks at him. He offers her the food again and she shakes her head, already starting to learn that gesture.

"I don't- is it because I called you by your name? Rey?"

Her smile widens. She didn't know he knew that, did she?

" _Rey_." He turns the pastry in a half circle. "Don't tell me you're not hungry. I won't believe you."

The door opens wider. She breaks out into a full-blown grin as she snatches her dinner from him and scampers off with it. Kylo picks up her tall drink of ale before he follows her.

Paintings are everywhere. She must have found his papers that he kept in his bedroom. So she had been there, after all? How confusing.

"This is quite nice. Did you do this?"

He picks up one of the papers which has an inky interpretation of the watchtower painted upon it. Rey doesn't answer, too busy shoveling a full palm's worth of the pie into her mouth. Some day, perhaps, Kylo would like to teach her the fundamentals of a fork and spoon.

Kylo sets the drink down on a table next to her and slumps against the bench along the wall. He rests his head in his hands, rubbing his temples slowly before pulling back. The girl is eyeing him curiously now, her head tipped to the side and her mouth visibly bouncing up and down as she chews.

"I killed many of you today, M'Lady. We all did. It was carnage pure and true, so why don't you care? If your kind had done that to one of mine, Islander or not, I would have an opinion about it."

He flops onto his side as the silence that follows is broken only by the messy sounds of her consumption and the occasional growl of contentment. As his eyes grow heavy he glances down at the floor where his ink and a scattering of papers are thrown about. His brushes as well. He had hidden them in his dresser so her curiosity must have truly lead her everywhere. She had been in the middle of her next masterpiece, it would seem, and the subject of it seemed both alarmingly familiar and shockingly candid.

"If you're going to draw me in the nude, My Lady, I shall need to get you a bigger brush."

Tired as he is, Kylo can't quite manage to feel more than passingly embarrassed, though he does flip the paper over before he flops onto his back and stares at the ceiling. The light of the candle is behind her and it creates a flickering silhouette of his mermaid. It's the last thing Kylo sees before he closes his eyes and will for the gods to bless him with just a minute's worth of rest tonight.

* * *

Dawn peaks out on the horizon with the faintest sliver of glowing pink against the black of the night.

For a moment Kylo is convinced that he's still dreaming. This isn't his bed. This is his house, but not-

Movement. Warmth, too. The top of a brunette head peaks out from under a nest of bedding and a softly feminine snoring sound emerges from deeper down.

The girl is laying next to him. She had not only brought her bedding over but she had dragged the only other piece of furniture- the low table- over as well and placed it alongside the wooden bench to make a wide enough platform for them both.

Kylo stares at her for the longest time, trying and failing to process this newest change in her behavior towards him. Just to be sure, he carefully pulls back the covers from around her. No severed head. This isn't like last time he'd been scratched by her kind.

No head but, as Kylo peers a little deeper down, he can see the pie plate. It's mostly gone and she's holding it to her chest even in her sleep.

"Gods. Truly you will make me into a drinker yet."

That doesn't even begin to describe it, but it's a start. Kylo tucks the blanket back in and collapses back down.

Then he watches as the sky as it slowly transforms, his own thoughts matching its careful pace as he wonders not for the first time what his men would do if they were to see their great leader right now.

* * *

Author's note:

Heh. Heh heh. Rey saw the Knightly 'D and she liked it : P

And I think I'm going to drop the rating down from E to M, I hope you're all okay with that! Gods know that I've written some pretty dang explicit smut in my time, but for this story I feel like M is the right tone. When our duo do the do, it's probably going to be really funny and really strange (for Kylo, at least! boy's a prude!) and E just don't feel right for this fic!

* * *

Comment replies:

kdobrole5: THANK YOU! Your support really means the world to me! I'm so glad you liked this story! : D

lipwip: IKR? Rey saw shirtless Kylo and was immediately like "ping ping radar detecting mate..."

averagepoptart: I wasn't so sure about this chapter and if I should post it or not but it's gotten a great response so far. Thanks so much for commenting!

Guest: Thank you! I'm so glad you liked this chapter! Thanks for commenting : )

.Feathers: I tried to walk the line between showing what's going on in Rey's head and showing too much of the plot, so I'm really glad to hear it worked out for you! Thanks as always for commenting and I'm so glad you're enjoying and sticking with this story!

kdobrole5


	15. Tag, You're It

Chapter summary:

Where Rey and Kylo go on a date without him even realizing it, and she manages to flash him her betwixts a record number of times.

* * *

The girl hadn't been there when Kylo had woken up for the second time.

He had overslept and it had drifted from the wee hours of the morning to past the start of full daylight. He still had a few hours before meeting with his men in town, at least. Plenty of time to go and find that wayward mermaid and see what in the blazes kept her busy while he was away.

Kylo dresses quickly when he descends back to his room. The notion that he had drifted off upstairs with one of his mortal enemies so close when he was so vulnerable…

"You make me lose my way, M'Lady. Perhaps my men are right to be wary of what I'm becoming."

As for the girl's own behavior yesterday Kylo was more or less speechless. First she had barged in on him, then she had stricken him, then they had argued until, suddenly, the bottom of her anger seemed to drop out all at once.

"Should I be offended that the sight of me in all my glory was enough to render you mute with shock?"

Perhaps it had simply been the final proof that no, he wasn't like a merman in all aspects. Perhaps that had been too confusing for her. As he gets dressed he chooses to wear his light armor, both because his heavy equipments badly needs repairs after yesterday and that he's not expecting much in the way of trouble.

"What were you thinking last night? Perhaps the fish pie was drugged. That would explain some of your behavior, though hardly all of it."

When it comes time to put on his boots and head out, Kylo takes a moment to make sure- just truly to make sure just in case- that all of his toes were still intact and where they belonged.

"Good. _Good_. Not that I had any doubts, M'Lady."

It's not that he wouldn't have noticed her gnawing on him in his sleep, right? But the visual confirmation was still reassuring.

Outside the sun is shining and the air is something approaching both warm and still itchily cold. The last tendrils of fall clinging and making their final performance before the real winter drudgery settles down.

"We shouldn't' be sailing in this weather. An ill wind takes us and we could drift for weeks off course. It will be trying to push us to the north and the waters will just get colder and co- _oh_."

A row of fish are laid out along the railing to the front porch. They all been gutted and cleaned and look fresh. Probably from no more than a few hours ago.

"Well I had been thinking about charging you rent, so I suppose this is a step in the right direction."

It's also a sign that wherever his guest has wandered off too may not be so far after all. Life would be so much easier if she would just let him put a bell on her neck.

Kylo begins his morning patrol just like he would on any other day. He trusts his Knight's implicitly, but he also wouldn't completely put it past them to show up unexpectedly. They could use concern over his injuries as a reason to encroach on their leader's sanctum, or they were also well within their rights to question his mental well being after his altered performance over these last few days.

The claw marks on his chest hurt, some still weeping in places, but simply being outside is enough to raise his spirits back up. No bodies of either his kind or another lay strewn about the beach. No severed heads swing from the low branches of the shoreline scrub. No wrecked ships and mermaid feasts or sirens tempting him into the water or cold glares from unwelcoming villagers.

It was quiet. Peaceful and sunny and quiet. The fog has fully lifted by the time he crosses the narrow spit of land separating one side of the peninsula with his watchtower to the other. There lies the wider beach where he had first found his feral guest all tangled up and presumed dead.

He goes to right where she had been that day. Footprints in the sand. Small footprints, human, and leading down along the beach.

"I wonder how hard it would be for me to get you to wear shoes?"

She'd taken to suitable modesty well enough, aside from that one baffling interaction last night. Shoes were far more optional, though Kylo could try and hope for the best.

The next stretch of the beach is broken from the wide shore by a small hillock guarded by two tall boulders on each side of the well worn path. It lead to a rocky cove that offered excellent fishing in the warmer months, and the girl's footprints leads right through to it.

Kylo can't sense her, but he can't see her either. Not until she lunges out at him, leaping from her hiding spot behind the second boulder with a deafeningly fierce howl.

"Gah-hads!" Kylo shouts, stumbling back and drawing his sword out of instinct.

And the girl starts laughing. Cackling, really. Howling in amusement at him, her whole body bent over and shaking with each of her hearty exhalations.

Kylo clears his throat, stands tall, and sweeps his hear back from over his eyes.

"I suppose you find this really funny, don't you?" he asks, jabbing at the direction of her with the tip of his saber. "You know I could have killed you in an instant, right? How foolish it is to try and startle a Knight of Ren with your childish games."

Truth be told, she did more than _try_ to startle him. Kylo can hear his pulse pounding in his ears, and not even the nipping cold of the morning breeze can cool the flames of embarrassment from his cheeks.

The girl starts snorting then, righting herself halfway up mimicking his stabbing motion at her with her own hands. She seems to find this whole thing quite hilarious. A sentiment Kylo can hardly return.

"You're lucky we're alone, M'Lady. My Knight's would have you mounted on the edge of their blade by now."

It's a less than pleasant thought, and Kylo grimaces as he sheathes his blade. The girl has sparks of mischief dancing in her eyes, and for a few moments they both watch each other in silence. Kylo frowns at her, and she returns his curmudgeon expression with a growing beaming smile.

Then she spins, turning on her heel away and scampering off along the path.

"Oh where are you going now?" he calls out, his irritation only mounting the further away she goes.

That path would eventually lead her to the main dirt track. It was a good few miles into town and no one should be around on this abandoned stretch to his tower, but it was the small chance of his Knights coming to pay him a visit that prompts Kylo to continue after her and take her back inside.

She looks over her shoulder when he gets close. Kylo narrows his eyes as her lips widen, an infuriating grin decorating her face. He knows what she's going to do, it's painfully obvious.

"Don't you dare you little-"

She breaks out into a full on run, her bare feet seeming to have no trouble at all as the sand turns into dewy sea grass and shrub.

"M'Lady!"

It's pointless calling out, Kylo knows this, but he does it anyhow as he runs after her. Why? Just why? Why couldn't they just have a nice, quiet breakfast inside together before he had to leave for the day's endeavors? Was that so much to ask?

Despite being weighed down by his lighter armor, Kylo still has a much longer stride than his guest and he starts to close the distance to her. He looks back over her shoulder, mischievous lilt still to her feature, but she gives a little chirp when she sees how close he is.

She stops for only a a second to seize the hem of her dress and pull it off over her head leaving her without a stitch to protect propriety from any eyes that should see. Then she bolts again, this time running all the faster without the shin-length garment restricting her movement.

" _M'LADY_! Stop this at once!"

What does she think she's bloody well doing? Kylo snatches her dress up as he dashes past it, now finding the two of their speeds to be nearly equal.

His prey bends back to the right, heading in the direction of the shore and not the road at least. Kylo debates reaching out with the Force and seizing her in place like an unruly kitten, but he's been very reluctant to use his powers against her ever since their first night when he had to put her to sleep many times.

With an agility that not even Silas could manage the girl scales a tall boulder at the shoreline. Finally she comes to a stop, standing there a good ten feet above Kylo's head and grinning down at him with her hands on her hips.

"It's not-" Kylo's breath falters from his exertion. His armor may be light, but it's not buck-naked light. "It's not a fair race, M'lady, if you're the only one who knows where the finish line is."

She spins then, giving him a brief view of her derrière, before diving off her rock and into the ocean waters beyond it before Kylo can stop her.

"Be-" careful.

There were rocks in the water. Plenty of them. She seemed to have missed them and Kylo once again wonders how deeply disturbed his mind must be to willfully put up with so much from the girl.

She surfaces about ten feet out. Waves lap at the bottoms of Kylo's boots as he stands on the gravel shore and shakes his head as she beckons him to join her.

"I hardly intend to walk around in wet gear all day, M'Lady, though I see that's hardly a problem for you."

She laughs again, sweeping her arms out and sending a wave of water splashing toward him before she starts to swim away. She heads out deeper into the waters towards a lonesome rock thirty spaces out. Far enough away that Kylo couldn't get to her in time if if her kind is about.

"How are you not freezing? You hardly seem to be effected by the waters at all, nor slowed down by not having your tail."

Kylo folds and refolds her dress absently, half watching at the back of his guest's head and half looking over his shoulder at the forlorn hillsides around them. When she gets to the rock she heaves herself up and crouches there, leaning down on all fours and peering over the edge into the waters. If Kylo had thought that his view of her naked form had been candid before it's nothing compared the buttocks proudly in the air and everything betwixt posture she's adopting now.

"Gods," Kylo mutters, looking down at his feet or anywhere else but the lurid display in front of him.

He can sense her interest rippling over at him from her mind. She sees something down there that she wants. Out of the corners of his eyes he sees her shoulders hunch, her whole body coiling tight like a cobra about to strike as she creeps closer to the edge of her perch.

"Be careful its wet," he says flatly, again refusing to look as her buttocks now sway side to side with her slinky movements.

Then down she goes, disappearing into the water with only a faint splash to signal her departure from view.

She truly has no qualms with being in the icy waters, does she? She wasn't even shivering, not that he was looking closely or anything like that. This alone proves to Kylo more than any actions of hers before that she _must_ be something more than she appears. She may have so clearly have the shape of a human woman, but no one, not even one of his Knight's, would e able to swim and leap and cavort as freely in the water as she does on the land.

"Would Maz know what you are? Would anyone? I doubt it. They would all think me a madman, and they might well be right about that."

A hand breaks the surface of the waters halfway between Kylo's feet and the rock. Clutch in it is the thrashing length of an eel, its body lashing at the ebbing waves as his guest swims back to present it to him.

Her smile is wide and beaming. Not the sly and half-wicked grin she had given him earlier. No, this is a sunshine glow of pride as she slumps her way out of the waters, holding her gift in both hands out to him.

When he tries to offer her a hand and take it she draws back, preferring to scamper out the rest of the way herself. She throws her arms in a circle in front of her, sending the eel smashing headfirst into a rock and killing it in an instant if not rather crude manner.

Then she drops it at her feet, stepping back a few paces and clearly waiting for Kylo to come to her instead of the other way around.

"Most impressive, M'Lady," he reluctantly admits. "Perhaps its for the best there's only the one of you in the land or you'd put the whole fishing village out of a livelihood."

Kylo might as well cut and clean the eel now rather than alter, so he kneels by her feet after handing her the dress. Instead of wearing it properly she wraps it around her shoulders like a towel. She's not shivering but goosebumps are all over her skin, spanning from along her arms to the smooth planes of her stomach to-

To Kylo cursing as his saber nicks a gash on his palm in thanks for him letting himself get distracted.

The girl squats down next to him, once again forcing him to look away from her unintentionally lewd posture. She picks up his palms in her own hands and turns it slightly from one side to the other as she examines it. Her fingers trace along the length of his and she smiles again as she she strokes and pinches at his index and forefinger. There's an odd sort of rosiness to her cheeks that he hadn't seen before and Kylo clears his throat before pulling his hand back and standing up.

"If you're planning on eating them, I have meatier places on my body than my fingers, M'Lady. Now put that on. Properly."

Kylo pushes the image of her wearing her clothes into her head. If he didn't know better, he could have almost sworn he saw her rolling her eyes before she complies.

He takes the eel with him as they walk back. This time his guest follows without complaint, her morning fun at his expense apparently losing out to the promise of a fresh meal and warm house.

* * *

"I will be back very late tonight or, more likely, tomorrow morning. I would like it very much if you're here when I return."

Kylo doesn't know why he feels compelled to tell the girl this. She won't understand and there's no effective way to try and show her through images into her mind.

"If you keep the fire going and stay in, you'll be warm. If you run out and disappear you won't be warm. One certainly sounds better to me than the other."

The girl twitches her nose and rolls her head, clearly listening but giving no indication of comprehension. She tears another long strip of the roasted eel off from the serving platter and smears it around in the puddle of gravy she had poured onto her plate.

Kylo adjusts his armor as she regards him. He'd put on a few additional pieces in key places, though for the most part he's simply trying to look the part of the Master of the Knights to match the expectations of the villagers tonight.

He was over an hour alter now. he'll have to ride quite fast into town to catch even the endings of the meeting with Maz. It was an unfortunate delay, but he'd shown Rey the basics of keeping the fire going. Open door. Throw in log. Close door. She'd seemed rather uncertain about it, but hopefully she'll be able to manage. If the village celebration tonight runs long as it always has before, Kylo will have no choice but to bunk with his men at the inn rather than head back in the pitch blackness.

"I'm off, M'Lady," Kylo has to stop himself from an odd impulse to kiss the top of her head as he walks past her to the front door. "Stay safe, stay warm, and stay inside."

He can feel the girl's eyes watching him from the window as he mounts his horse and leads it around to the front gate before taking off. Hopefully, and he knows he thinks this every time, but hopefully she'll still be there when he gets back and his day will be simple, calm, and mercifully uneventful for once.

* * *

Author's Note:

Kylo telling Rey about the meatier places on his body than his fingers may not be helping his virtuous quest, amiright?

Comment replies:

.Feathers- Go on an adventure? Absolutely! Kylo just doesn't even know it yet! Thanks for commenting!

Guest: Ha! Glad you like the setting even if it's rahter odd! Thanks so much for commenting!

longmoonedraptor: I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! Thanks for commenting!


	16. Maz and Her Dirty Boys

"So they look the same then?" Kylo asks. "There's no physical difference between the two species?"

Maz's smile grows. It's a somewhat irritating smile. The old woman seems entirely too pleased to be able to tell the mighty Knights something they didn't know before.

"If you look close enough there will be," she answers, "but only if you pay attention. The deep waters have bigger tails and brighter eyes. They're supposed to be the most beautiful creatures in all the ocean, but I suppose if you're only interests in slicing their heads off and parading them around to boast then those little hints will surpass you."

Years ago, when Kylo wasn't so calm and patient a person as age has worn him into, he would have made the village wise woman regret her veiled insults. Now though he can feel the weight of his men's stares hang heavily, and he dismisses her comments with an offhand wave.

"So these two types of merfolk, they hate each other, yes? Is that why you believe they've been in such a frenzy as of late?"

It was the first solid clue that they had had come across. Two different species of merfolk, now at war with each other. It didn't answer all the questions, but it offered a few answers at least. Kylo had been looking in the wrong direction the whole time.

"There's something on your mind, isn't there?"

Maz's tone has a lilt to it. Kylo narrows his eyes in warning, but the old woman simply leans close and rests her chin on her palm. Apparently, when you get to her age, not even the Master of the Knights of Ren can scare her.

"What else do you know? Tell us everything."

Neither Taleisin nor Ria have spoken a word since the three of them sat down in Maz's home. Their silence is troublesome, though not especially unusual as of late.

"Everything? Everything is too big of a question, my Lord. But I think you know already that I have eyes and ears in places where your men aren't welcome."

Kylo grimaces at his brief flashback to his conversation with Aemon the night before. If anything, Maz's smile only grows more as she waits.

He gives a nod and Ria's hand extends, dropping a sachet of gold coins onto the table in front of them. Maz picks it up and jangles it a few times to test the wight before her hand circles and the sachet vanishes from sight.

"It's the deep waters that are pushing the shallows closer and closer to us, don't be wrong about that. But if you may think they're the problem, you're wrong. Someone has been hunting them _._ Someone's been poaching and butchering their kind and they've been retaliating. That's what at the root of this."

Kylo's surprise matches that of the two Knights by his side. Both Taleisin and Ria speak quickly and silently through their mental connection, each asking the same question to their leader.

"Someone..." Kylo takes a moment to wrap his mind fully around the implications. "Someone is taking- is _abducting_ \- merfolk? Is that what you mean?"

Maz nods, resuming her chin-in-hand posture.

"It's against every law of the land," she agrees. "And, before you ask me who's doing it and how long I've known, I don't know who's responsible. It's not one of our islanders, I can tell you that for sure. I've thought something was going on but it wasn't until this morning before Tall and Handsome came for me that I has proof."

Taleisin and Ria has always been Maz's favorites. It was a good match to send them to find her today. If Kylo had gone alone, he doubts she would have been nearly as forthcoming.

"And what did you find today?" he asks.

Maz's smile drops. She nods again, her thin lips setting into a grim downturn.

"I suppose I don't have to ask you lot if you're afraid of blood, do I?"

She pushes her chair back from the table and waddles over to the other side of the room. Kylo looks back at Taleisin who shakes his head. She hadn't told him, either. If it was to be a grim discovery that would explain the old woman's somewhat uncharacteristic assistance to them.

When she returns, she's carrying a small burlap sack in her hands. The bottom of it is stained with dried blood.

"Gods," Kylo mutters. He opens the parcel quickly, not wanting to delay the discovery.

A severed heart. A mermaid's heart, deeper and bluer than a human's. The tubes from it have been cut cleanly, clearly having been done with great precision with a blade rather than anything one merfolk could do to another.

Before he can stop himself, Kylo flashes briefly back to Rey and the severed head. Both Ria and Taleisin's attention snap from the contents of the sack to him. They'd seen it in his mind but he blocks himself from them before they have the chance to ask.

"Explain," he says, closing the bag.

Maz plucks the sack up and slides a coaster under it to keep it from staining her table. She sits down again, this time crossing her legs primly and leaning forward.

"This was with it," her hand extends with a piece of paper. " _WS_. That was all it said. The whole thing was wrapped in chain and placed in a hidden box along the black sand beach. One of my boys found it."

Max's 'eyes and ears' were a network of urchins, some younger than others but none older than their teens. All had been made orphans by the Winterton war, and their continued dubious employment with the old wise woman was a holdover from a time before Kylo and his Knights came to the island.

"WS," Ria repeats, "it could mean anything."

"Indeed." Kylo frowns at the package again before turning his attention back to Maz. "I suppose you have a theory though, don't you?"

Despite what she may look like and her eccentric lifestyle, Kylo doesn't doubt that very little of the goings on of the island escape the old woman's notice.

"I'd reckon 'Western Station', but it's just a reckon. That trade ship from Winterton that must've sunk on its way here? Would have gone right by the old western station. Since the war ended nobody's supposed to be at that old wreck, but folks aren't supposed to do a lot of things they do anyhow."

More and more questions. Kylo had walked into this meeting expecting a long winded history of merfolk and why they're as mysterious as they are dangerous. Instead he and his men were gifted with the first lead into what could be a very dark conspiracy. A conspiracy happening right on their doorstep under their noses.

"The boy," he says after a moment of silent deliberation, "the one who found this. We will need to speak to him."

Maz clears her throat, her eyes wrinkling as she frowns back at him.

"My boys are clean of this. They look. They listen. They tell it back to me. They don't have nothing to do with whatever this is."

"Then you should have no problem with us talking to them. Taleisin will go. Have the child show him exactly where the drop box was found. Perhaps there are things the Force can show us that not even your wards can see."

With that Kylo rises to leave, but Maz reaches out and grabs his wrist.

"Show me your hand," she asks.

Rather than waiting for him to do it himself, she turns Kylo's palm over and pinches the tip of his glove to slide it off. Kylo sighs, pushing his annoyance down since a display of anger to the old woman would do more harm and no good.

"You're reading my palm? And here I was thinking you were a woman of intellect."

Maz smiles then, sending him a cheeky glance before leaning down to inspect the lines on his hand.

"There," she points at a spot in the middle of his palm. "Your lifeline. It's going up up up until right there where we are now. Oh? And what's this? Another line about to merge right into it. Folks really do a lot of things they're not supposed to, don't they?"

Kylo closes his fist and yanks his hand back.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean. Taleisin. Stay with her. The old woman will show you to the child and then you can meet us all at the hall in town with your findings."

With that he leaves without another word, Ria following close behind him as he yanks his gloves back on and steps out of Maz's hut.

* * *

Predictably, Ria doesn't waste any time.

"You thought of a severed head. You were surprised to see the heart, but not shocked. Why?"

She keeps her voice low as they work their way through the afternoon crowd on their way to meet Aemon and a select of the other Knights. Most will still be on their way here, and the village itself is buzzing with activity and preparations for tonight's big celebration in their honor.

"Ria, I will tell you all in time. For now though simply know that I have my reasons and don't question me. It seems we will need to prepare very quickly to depart. Let's focus on that."

They're at the edges of the village square where a bustling market is even more full of commotion that unusual. Aemon is waiting there for them along with Gareth and Balen, their archers. The five of them step inside the village longhouse and go into the rear room that's been cleared for their use for the day. He lets Ria summarize their meeting with Maz once they all sit down.

"The western station? It's on the way to the Ilha Dos Sabios. We can stop by there and kick whatever Winterton scum is squatting there right to the bottom of the ocean."

Gareth and his brother had been slaves during the reign of Winterton's former king. Durign their interference in the war Kylo and his Knights had both freed them and then recruited the highly force-sensitive twins into their ranks. Their old grudge would still return from time to time, despite the war concluding and the cruel old king now long buried.

"We will go there," Kylo promises, "but we will not pass any judgments until we see what we find. Perhaps we won't have to go all the way to the Ilha after all."

The journey to the old western station would take them a week there and a week back if the late season weather would hold well. Aemon could use his abilities to improve their odds, but it would still mean two weeks away from this Island.

Two weeks could be a very long time. So much could happen to _anyone_ , and it would be completely out of his powers to stop it.

"Do you think Winterton's really behind this?" .

Ria joins him at the map of the oceans. Kylo begins to sketch out the possible routes. The most direct would be the most dangerous, though a safer route would add at least another four or five days to an already overlong journey. Both routes would lead right through the deepest waters.

"Winterton?" Her question had almost been forgotten before a poke at his mind reminds Kylo. "No, I doubt it. They'll suffer as much as our Island from the trade collapsing. Worse, perhaps. I haven't a clue who would benefit from these interruptions or want to traffic _mermaid parts_ of all things."

Both Winterton and their Island had strict rules about hunting the merfolk. Only rarely had the rules needed to be enforced since the threat of a terrible death at the hands of the beasts had been a hindrance enough.

"The Sages would know," Aemon says as he joins them. "Signs are pointing us to them, though it could hardly come at a worse time."

"Such is often the ways of the Force," Kylo agrees. "Sometimes I wonder if we aren't being tested."

A ripple of renewed commotion comes from the marketplace outside. It was getting later in the day now. Music was starting to be played, the scent of fresh food and roasting game warmed the air, and the oppressive weight of so many villager's minds buzzing around them began to give Kylo the start of a headache.

"Taleisin should be back soon," he says. "Rowan and the rest are expected within an hour. We'll decide then which of will go and which will stay. I… four will stay, I think. It's not enough. I would like for it to be six and six, but if we split ourselves in half it won't be enough to run the ship should we hit bad weather and-"

A particularly loud scream cuts through the noise outside. Kylo and his Knights freeze, reaching out collectively to send a pulse of the Force. Agitation and confusion greet them back. Not terror, but more screaming breaks out, coming right from the center of the market.

"Balen, go see what it is. If it's nothing, tell the villagers to keep their voices down, I can hardly hear myself think over all that racket."

The twin disappears out the front and Kylo pulls out a second map, this one a more closer zoom in of their island.

"It will have to be two and two then." He points at the small barracks on the outskirts of town and then at the old stone fortification on the far side where the other half of the Knights use as their base. "Constant communication will be essential. We'll have to find a way, perhaps through carrier birds or maybe we can enlist Maz's help with putting her urchins to work for us. The villagers won't like us so close but-"

"Not your tower then?" Ria interrupts. "It would be a better location because we can keep an eye on the north shore where so much of the trouble has been."

Kylo keeps his mind locked very tightly from her. Aemon and the others look up from the map, noticing the mental barricades their leader's clumsily put up.

Another round of shouting from outside luckily offers a distraction. Balen bursts back inside, an exasperated scowl on his face.

"Just some local acting a crazy fool. A girl running around the market buck naked and trying to steal food from the stalls."

Kylo frowns.

"Naked?" Gareth asks, attention now fully removed from the map. "Shall I go out an take a look?"

His brother shrugs.

"Oh she's a pretty thing at that, but she growled at me as I tried to take back a pie from her. Dead crazy look in her eyes, too. She must be on the Skooma if I'd wager."

Ria scoffs, shaking her head.

"Deplorable. Simply deplorable. And here I was thinking we'd rid the island of the evils of the moon sugar by now. Let the local guards take care of her. A day or two in the dungeon will do a world of good for-"

"What sort of pie?"

Kylo pushes away from the table, fighting the urge to just charge past his Knight and see the truth for himself.

"What?" The look Balen gives him for his question is rather priceless. "What does it-"

Another scream, this one with more intensity. Over the rising chaos Kylo can faintly hear someone shout ' _she just bit me!_ '

And every improper word that Kylo knows flashes through his mind as he charges out, shoving his Knights aside as he leaves.

* * *

Author's note:

Someone came by to say hi! 'Bout time, huh? Pity she doesn't have enough home training, as they say where I used to be from, lol

Short chapter, but an important one. Next one's going to be quite funny, I hope, as our lovebirds are reunited after but a few hours apart.

And yes, I totally ripped 'skooma' and 'moon sugar' off from Skyrim. That happened. Embrace it. And did you hear the rumor that the next full Elder Scrolls isn't expected until the Playstation FIVE era? Oh Bethesda… you done pissed me off right good. And Blades doesn't count. Eff off with that and get to work, I want Hammerfell but at this point I'll take whatever!

And and AAAAND:

It was suggested to me by the lovely thevagabondthoughts that I make an appendix of who's who in Kylo's Knights of Ren since they all have weird fantasy world names and it'll be easier to keep everyone straight. So far we've met 8 out of the 12 (withy Kylo being the 13th of course) so here's who we've got so far:

Aemon, controls the weather, sort of the 2nd in command though officially there's no ranking within the Knights other than Kylo being their leader

Taleisin, youngest, healer

Ria, one of the two women, very very big and tall, typically dresses to hide her gender

Silas, second youngest and fastest

Mayenne, 2nd female knight, so far only mentioned in passing

Rowan, longswordsman, also only appeared once so far

and the twin brothers Gareth and Balen, archers, they're really close. Maybe a little too close.

4 more to go but I'm breaking up the group for the trip and leaving a few of the Knights behind to mind the island. I'll update this list as things develop.

* * *

Comment replies

Guest: I'm really glad you're enjoying this story and it's strange AU setting! I'm having a lot of fun writing it so I hope that shows. Thanks so much for commenting!

.Feathers: Rey and Kylo needed a date day, right? And she was in fine spirits chasing and being chased by her bae. This next chapter's got a little more plot (or, okay, a lot more) but I'll often have some lighter chapters too to break up the tension. Thanks for commenting!


	17. Mermaid in a Bottle

The crowd parted for Kylo like the throng of a wave to a jutting rock.

He already knew. He _knew_. And there she was.

Wild eyed. Teeth bared. Pie in one hand, a roasted leg of a sheep in the other. Obscenely- even more obscenely than the sway of her bare hips and heave of her exposed breasts- she was using that sheep's leg like a club, waving it angrily from side to side to keep the villagers away.

They were surrounding her on all sides. The foolish bravado of a group who didn't have the first clue of how much danger they could be in.

Surely she wouldn't hurt them all, would she? Kylo didn't know for sure, but the way she howls and lashes out when one of the villagers gets to close sounds preternatural.

They're going to figure out what she is. They're going to figure it out, and then they're going to kill her.

"Step aside!" Kylo shouts, stepping into the circle of space encroached on all sides.

Rey growls again, her teeth pulling back from her lips as she sees him. Murmurs of shock buzz through the crowd of villagers. Now they're scared. Now they realize that their much maligned Knights are getting involved. That means trouble. That means this girl isn't just a joke of a threat.

"Guards!" somebody shouts. "For gods' sakes, someone get the guards!"

Kylo's patience wavers, but only for a flicker. His hand lashes out, sweeping through the air around him and pushing the crowd back with the strength of the Force.

He steps closer then and Rey cringes, sheep's leg raised high like a weapon and her whole body appearing to coil up and ready itself to strike. The tension in the air is palpable, thicker than molasses on the coldest days of winter. It's radiating off from every villager. They want to see this. They want to see what could bring the Knight Lord out of his lair and make such a spectacle.

They're afraid, but not enough. Rey is more than that.

Kylo can see it in her eyes. To an outsider she must seem nearly berserk. Out of her mind with rage. But Kylo's seen that look on her, and now isn't it.

Now she's afraid. Terrified even. Scared both of the crowd, because there are so so many of them. But now there's doubt in her eyes about him as well. The rising hysteria of her wondering at his next actions.

Kylo has to stop this and break her out of it before the crowd gets what they want and something very bad happens.

"Step back," he orders again, raising his voice louder.

This time the crowd retreats on their own volition, though not by very far. Incrementally more of a space to breathe opens up and Rey looks around, her body trembling from holding her ready pose for so long.

"That crazy bitch is off her head!"

Kylo's hand flies out, this time drawing the foul-mouthed young man who just spoken over to him. He holds him up by his throat and Rey cringes even more, her fear and confusion mirror the human faces around her.

"You will mind your words," he growls at the man. "This girl is not your concern. She is no one's."

"No one's except for ours. Apparently."

His Knights have come out to see the drama unfold for themselves. Ria was the one who spoke, but she's joined by both Aemon and now a very confused looking Taleisin who must have returned at the most inopportune of times. Kylo doesn't doubt that the twins are watching as well, hanging back from the center of the action like their roles within the Knights often require of them.

The man still in Kylo's grip starts to struggle, his feet kicking weakly and a slight blueish tint to his lips. Taleisin's palm lights rests on Kylo's shoulder and he relents, dropping the villagers to the floor to watch him scurry away back into the crowd.

Rey takes this moment of distraction to make her move. With a high pitched whine she turns away, dropping both of her food prizes as she runs. Kylo moves to stop her but she's too fast, always too fast, and she leaps first on then over a cart blocking an alleyway behind her.

"Stay here and control the crowd!"

Kylo shouts the order to his men before taking up the chase. He needs to catch her and keep her from safe. She's already gotten herself into so much trouble.

Another flick of the Force and he shoves the cart out of his way, running after her quickly retreating, still extremely naked form as she rounds a corner and disappears out of sight. Rey may be faster, but here on this ground Kylo has an advantage. He knows these streets and she's running blind.

He reaches out with the Force, knocking over a barrel to the right of her and she yelps and bolts to the left. The few villagers, mostly children, that aren't at the main celebration stick their heads out of windows and watch with wide eyes at the chase underway. Kylo takes his own detour then, cutting across through a long and narrow courtyard filled with drying herbs and hanging laundry. It hides his movements enough and he cuts ahead of the girl, intercepting her at the next crossroad of the long and narrow street she had been racing down.

She collides into his chest with an impact that makes him stagger. Her growl bellows, her limbs lashing out blindingly as she slaps and tries to wrestle free. Kylo holds her tight, wrapping his arms around her firmly.

"M'Lady! It's _me_. I'm here. _Calm down._ "

She struggles again, kicking and stomping and nearly head-butting him until his words finally seem to sink in. When she still she looks up at him, her eyes wide and frantic and rimmed red with tears.

"M'Lady..."

Kylo unwraps one of his arms from her to dry her cheek with his palm. She makes a short, croaking whimper and flinches, burying her face against his hand just like she had in the bath several days before. She trembling now, her whole body shaking and he wraps his grip tighter, letting her snuggle herself against his chest.

A few impulses leak from her mind. Flashes back of the crowd as seen from her eyes. So many strangers. Angry. Fearful. They were everywhere. Too many and then she was surrounded and they were all shouting and pushing.

Kylo sighs, giving in and placing a soft kiss against her temple.

"M'Lady… you stole their food, you took off your clothes, and apparently you bit someone. Or multiple someones. You certainly do have a way of making an unforgettable first impression."

Her tremors start to subside then, the sound of his voice seeming to soothe her. Kylo tries to step back and she clings so he keeps his arm where it. With his other hand he smooths her hair. It's a tangled mess stuck to her sweaty forehead and neck, but if he could find a brush he could fix it for her quickly.

"That creature has no soul."

Kylo closes his eyes, sucking in a breath and mentally bracing himself for the confrontation to come. Taleisin's clam tone was belied by the hardness of his words.

"She's not a creature." Kylo pulls himself away just enough so he can turn and face his Knights.

Rey grabs onto the front of his vest with both hands, holding herself to him tightly as she glares at them. All of the Knights wear expressions of either confusion or suspicion, and none of them except Gareth seem the slightest bit amused.

"Leader-" Taleisin begins.

Kylo cuts him off with a sharp glare. The girl holds onto him tighter, her little fists balling up the fabric of his tunic under his armored vest.

"She's _not_ a creature," Kylo repeats.

He can only imagine how ridiculous this scene must look to his Knights. Their Leader here, comforting a stranger whose mind is unreadable. She's naked and clinging to him and Kylo knows he's going to have to give an explanation but he has none to offer.

"Alright," Ria says. "What is she then?"

Kylo swallows. He can feel Rey start to tense up again. She must be able to sense his rising emotions as this new crop of strangers pushes closer.

"I don't know," he says honestly. "I don't- I've been trying to find answers, but there are none. She's unique."

Another silence falls. It's Aemon that speaks next, and he moves to join Ria and Taleisin in front of the twins.

"Why doesn't' she have a soul? She looks like she's living and breathing, but there's no trace of her mind in the Force."

Because they don't know her. Because they haven't taught themselves how to not look for a soul but rather for the absence of one.

Kylo feels Ria push at the edges of his mind and he pushes right back, shoving her out of his headspace with decisive force. All the other Knight catch onto the silent action, Taleisin's eyes widening just as Aemon's brows pull together. Even Rey looks up at him clearly having sensed something had happened.

"Leader," Taleisin says, dropping his voice a shade lower, "this… being. This is what you've been keeping from us?"

Rey squirms then. Kylo can tell she's getting nervous again, not liking having yet another group of strangers encroach on her.

"Yes."

Ria pushes past Taleisin to stand right in front of Kylo. She ignores Rey completely, instead glaring in open annoyance at their leader. Her boldness comes unsurprising to Kylo, Ria was always the most outspoken and direct of any of his Knights.

"Why?" she asks. "We do not keep secrets from each other. We've all sworn to that. So why keep this one?"

Lurking in the shadows of her question is a very unpleasant truth, one that Kylo has been reluctant to admit to even himself. He wanted to keep Rey hidden until he knew what she was and knew how to help her. Keep her hidden so his Knights couldn't find her and hurt her. Keep her all to himself, perhaps.

"She's different," is his only answer.

It clearly wasn't what his men were expecting. Saying nothing might have been better, but Kylo swallows back the anger starting to rise inside him.

He starts to pull back, trying to draw Rey behind him to keep her calm but his difficult girl holds her ground. She faces the gathered Knights head on, her upper lip curling back into a snarl of warning as Ria takes another step forward.

"Why is clinging to you?" she asks. "She's afraid of us, but not of you. You that she should be the most afraid of."

"And why is she naked?"

The last question comes from Gareth. He and his twin move closer as well, their eyes roving in tandem across the naked girl still cleaving herself to their leader's chest.

Kylo grimaces and immediately unfasten his cape. He drapes it over Rey's shoulder and she growls at him. With an annoyed huff she flicks the cloak behind her, leaving only the tops of her shoulders covered and everything else fully exposed. Again in unison the twins give a lopsided smile, though other three Knights seem far more perturbed about this whole strange encounter.

"Sir," Balen says, "if this naked young thing is your girlfriend, you can just tell us. Doesn't she talk? Where are her clothes?"

Gareth snorts at his brother's question, but both Taleisin and Ria exchange a look with each other. Pettily they're talking in each other's heads while keeping Kylo out.

"She seems feral," the female Knight says. "If she's dangerous we need to-"

Ria had been reaching out to touch the girl's arm. Possibly draw her away from Kylo where she was hunching over guardingly in front of him. A mistake indeed. Rey immediately pounces. She leaps through the air, butting Ria hard in her shoulder and knocking the Knight backwards into Taleisin.

The inevitable conflict boils over immediately. Ria strikes right back, slapping Rey hard across her cheek with the back of her gloved hand. Rey growls, diving low to attack her legs, but Ria throws her back with a much stronger push of the Force than necessary. Rey dives again and Kylo lunges at her, grabbing inadvertently lewdly as he wrestles her to the ground. Ria draws out her blade, but Taleisin stops her, stepping himself into the center of the fight.

"You said she wasn't a creature," Ria hisses, backing down, "and yet she just attacked me like an animal!"

It was true, but Rey's attack on Ria hadn't been entirely unfounded. Kylo could hear her heart pounding through her back and against his chest, the renewed fear at being surrounded rolling off her in nauseating waves of stressful energy.

"Sir."

Taleisn kneels, catching Rey's flailing wrists as she tries to claw backwards at him. She whines, struggling harder to escape.

"Give her some space," Kylo orders.

She needs to calm down. Kylo seen her panicking before, but this time she seems more on the edge than ever.

With nowhere else to go Rey curls up on herself, a somewhat pained sounding growl of warning emitting from her tightly bared lips. Kylo reaches out to squeeze her shoulder and she lashes out, her elbow colliding with his cheek and only missing breaking his nose by Kylo's quick instincts.

"Kid back there was right," someone, probably Gareth, mutters. "This girl's off her fucking head."

Kylo pays him no attention. For a flicker of a moment he thinks he can see something like pain in her eyes as she looks at him. Not physical, though probably that as well from Ria's forceful slap. Betrayal. Rey feels betrayed by him.

" _Sir_ ," Taleisin repeats.

He draws a still furious Ria back and Kylo stands as well. He can taste blood inside his mouth from where he must have bitten his cheek when she hit him. Rey stays there crouched, trembling, and the clicks of emotions he can catch are bouncing erratically between rage and pure fear.

His Knights don't immediately comply, though. Kylo can sense how Ria is still angry, and Taleisin's thoughts spills over with concern that somehow this strange 'creature' as he calls her is influencing Kylo's mind.

The moment Kylo steps back from her, Rey bolts.

Kylo should have expected that. She shoves hard at Kylo and this time he lets her push him aside. She races down the street away from them, Kylo's cloak fluttering behind her like a dark cloud. Aemon moves to follow her but Kylo calls him back with an unspoken order.

"Perhaps we should let her be," Taleisin says. "She seems agitated. Shall I assume you know where she's going?"

There's an accusation in his words that comes through clearly even without him saying it. The difference between him and Ria. Ria was direct with all things, but their youngest Knight had his own way of cutting down to the truth.

"She might hurt someone."

It's Aemon who says it, and Ria grunts in agreement. The tall woman now seems somewhat embarrassed. If Rey had the mind of a normal being there would have been no chance she could have gotten a blow in like she had done.

Kylo swallows, trying to bury deep the memory of the shocked and hurt look Rey had given him just moments before. He straightens, standing tall. Should he tell them? Dare he _not_?

"I found her a few days ago on the beach," he begins. "At the shore near my tower where so much of the mermaid activity has been. She was trapped in a net. I had thought she was dead because I couldn't feel her soul. I think she may have something to do with these mermaids being harvested."

Aemon scoffs, crossing his arms. His frown is matched by deeper scowls on the other's faces.

"Why in the gods didn't you tell us?"

"Because I was rather sure it would end with coming to blows between both of you."

Gareth snorts. Next to him his brother looks back, staring in the direction Rey disappeared to.

"She doesn't speak then?" Balen asks. "Your naked sweetie? You've just been all holed up with her over there and not been talking?"

Kylo's headache returns in full force. Behind them the music from the celebration starts to play again, the villagers resuming their festivities after the interruption.

"I don't need your insinuations, Brother. Neither your nor Taleisin's judgmental looks."

Some of the other Knight orders from the old Country demanded celibacy of their members. Kylo and his men had no such restriction, though their disapproving silence was starting to grate on his nerves.

"If any of you have anything to say to me, do it now. I find that I'm no longer in the mood for tonight's celebrations."

He can sense their unease. Taleisin is itching to berate him, Ria wants to lecture him, and Aemon and the twins are equal parts confused and eager to go back to the village square and put this strange incident behind them for the evening. For Kylo's part, he's mostly certain that Rey will flee back to the watchtower. Mostly, but not entirely.

"What should we tell the villagers? They are expecting to see you there."

It's Taleisin that asks it, and the twins take this as their cue to leave. They turn, heading back to the marketplace and letting the other more senior Knights handle the details.

"Tell them I was summoned by the Force and must meditate."

Taleisin raises an eyebrow.

"That's _not_ how the Force works."

"They don't know that. When the other Knights arrive tonight, tell them to make ready. Starting tomorrow we will divide up our ranks and prepare to sail out. Until then, enjoy your evening and leave me be. We can discuss everything that's happened later on when our head's have cooled."

Kylo was hardly an optimist. Very little of the meeting between the Knights and Rey had gone well. However, her noisy departure had brought one with it one silver lining: Kylo could now return home early. He wouldn't have to spend any longer at the celebration surrounded by villagers that never trusted him and now his own men who seem more inclined to morally condemn their leader than put their faith in his judgment.

* * *

Kylo went back to his watchtower on horseback.

It meant he should have beaten Rey to the return, but by now no part of him was surprised to find the front door open and dirty, wet footprints leading inside.

"Rey?" he calls out, though he hardly expects an answer.

Would she be angry at him? She had left angry, but she had also left hurt. Kylo couldn't shake that look in her eyes as he'd held her down. The one that had all but screamed _how could you?!_ back at him even though she had been the first instigator in the fight.

"Was it because of Ria? Because she was the closest, or do you simply not like her?"

He asks it aloud and heard by no one. Where in the hells was that girl now? She had beaten him here, but it couldn't have been by long.

Kylo begins to climb up the stairs to her room before a soft, muffled sound comes from his pantry. She's in there and she's crying. Crying over _him,_ no doubt. His shoulders slump when he finds the door locked.

"We're back to this then, are we? I had hoped we had moved past this stage."

He had thought trust had been built, but it would seem he had badly damaged whatever progress had been made between them.

"Rey."

Saying her name had worked last time. Now, however, all it brings him is a loud and particularly wet sounding sniff. An image of Rey blowing her snotty nose on his cape flutters into his mind. She's projecting that to him. Wants him to know that's what she's doing.

" _Gods_. So I guess that answers the question of if you're still angry with me?"

Why is he talking to a door? A locked door in his own damned home? He's the Master of the Knight's of Ren, for karking hells.

"Rey, you're my _guest_."

That's all the warning he gives before he focuses the Force on the lock and flips it open from the inside. He strides in, ready to assert his rights to his own property and perhaps lecture some basic manners into his ungrateful girl.

Until something wet and highly sticky flies into his face.

Kylo freezes mid-step, his mind struggling to process that he literally just got a facefull of apple preserves thrown onto him.

"Perhaps my men were right."

He scrapes his palm over his face, throwing the remnants to the floor and glaring at the girl. His expression softens, though, when he sees her.

She's curled up in the corner, her favorite jam jar clutched to her chest. She's naked, his cloak is wadded up at her feet, and she's in as much of a mess as it is. Puffy, tear-reddened eyes scowl up at him. She's covered in dirt and fresh scratches.

Oh. That's how she made it here faster. She tore her way right through the briars and nettles that fence the hillside instead of sticking to the winding road back.

"M'Lady, you're a mess."

In more ways than one. Kylo moves to kneel next to her and she cringes back, her hand dipping into the jam jar and scooping up another fistful of ammunition.

Absurdly though, when Kylo takes a step back, tears start rolling down her cheeks again. She sobs indignantly, wiping her hand off on his cloak.

"Childish."

It's hard to stay angry when she's crying, however. Kylo reaches his hand out to her, silently prompting her to meet him half way and take it.

Rey makes a noise, something sad and guttural. She curls up even tighter, resting her shaking head on the edge of the jar on her lap.

A skim over her distracted mind gives Kylo the truth.

"Because Ria's a woman and she got close to _me_? That's why you attacked her? That's why you're so upset now?"

It was ludicrous on all levels. Why should Rey care? She was acting as if she was jealous. She couldn't be jealous, they weren't even the same species and he and Ria could hardly-

They weren't-

She thought that-

Bit by bit a notion dawns on him. Rey's behavior over the last two days had been odd, even by her already near-lunacy standards.

"Rey."

He bends down, sitting on his heels in front of her. She swats his extending hand away without looking up.

"Rey, Ria is my Brother. Or my 'Sister', if you prefer. You can't simply attack every woman that comes near me, feral creature from the deep that you may be."

He says the last part mostly in jest, but that was what Taleisin had called her. Kylo can't blame his youngest Brother for that, he had thought the same thing at first as well. But it was a hurtful and altogether inaccurate title.

"I'm sorry," he says, pulling back. "I won't say it again and I will tolerate no one else either. Now I'm going to bring back some hot water and let's get you cleaned up and to off to bed. You've had a very trying day."

He knows better than to try and take the jam jar from her, but she starts crying softly again when he turns to leave. So many of their problems would be solved if he could only get her to understand him.

The stove in the main room was reduced to embers, and Kylo throws another log on before dipping a finger into the bucket on top. Slightly better than lukewarm, but it will have to do.

When he returns to Rey she's pulled herself together slightly. She's scooping out the remainders of the jam and halfheartedly licking it off her fingers. Inwardly Kylo groans at the uncouth sight, but he'll have to save basic table manners to a later time once she's learned to put her clothes on and keep them on.

Kylo starts cleaning her off then, starting with washing all the sticky remnants from around her mouth. Truly the girl eats like a bantha. He gives his own face a swipe with the washcloth from where she'd jammed him, then he begins to work on the dirt and muck from the rest of her body.

"I think those briars may have gotten the best of you, M'Lady. Though perhaps if you'd been wearing proper _clothes_ this myriad of scratches might never have happened."

He pushes the images of her second dress into her mind. Where she left it or why she took it off to begin with will probably never be known, but perhaps next time she might be more careful. That's all he can ask of her.

Rey watches him silently, her sobs having subsided accept for the occasional hiccup. When she's satisfactorily clean Kylo draws back, but her hand snatches his wrist. She pulls, drawing him closer until he's leaning over her.

The look she gives him now is uninterpretable.

For a moment they both stare at each other, Rey half glaring up at him through her still wet lashes and half something else. Determination, perhaps?

Kylo frowns, his confusion only deepening. The jam jar is pushed aside and Rey wraps both hands around his neck, pulling herself into him.

"A hug? Oh, alright. If that's what you'd like."

Her going to him for emotional comfort is ridiculous. What strange bedfellows they truly make. Still, though, Kylo tries. He holds her firmly to him, sitting down now to rock her back and forth slightly since that feels like the natural thing to do.

Rey whimpers against his chest. Kylo shushes her, letting her snuggle herself in closer and bury her face to her neck.

"Are you trembling, M'lady? You are. Why?"

He lets go of his claps on her shoulders to sweep her hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear. She looks up at him, her lips pressing together tightly. He lightly strokes her head, petting her, and finally a ghost of a smile dawns across her mouth.

"Feel better now?" he asks.

She doesn't answer because she never does. Instead her face dips down again, and she shifts to place a hand on his chest. Kylo raises an eyebrow, completely at a loss, as she unbuttons the first than second buttons of his shirt.

He stills her hand with his own, an odd feeling of unease filling him.

"M'lady-"

She buries her face against his neck. His breath catches as he feels the warm, wet swath of her tongue lap against the flesh just above his collarbone and at the bend of his shoulder.

It's only when her teeth sink down _hard_ does he realize how incredibly stupid he's been this whole time.

* * *

author's note:

; )

* * *

comment replies:

.Feathers- thanks for sticking with this story! Kylo's Knights turning on him? Well, it may happen, it may not. Right now they're justifiably upset with their leader for hiding his magical roommate from them, but Kylo has good reasons for it. Sorta good reasons. The girl's a handful, that's for sure. More of a badass Kylo? I'll try! At this story's heart it's a lighter hearted semi comedie, but I'll keep your feedback in mind. Thanks for commenting!

Guest- Yep, Rey was bound to make herself known at some point. Poor Kylo, though, he really didn't see that one coming. Thanks for commenting and I'm so glad you're enjoying this story!

Coesa Rudo- I try to strike the right balance between plot and fun, and I think this last chapter had a good blend. Kylo was rather clueless during the last scene until all the pieces snapped together and he just KNEW what had happened, lol.

Thanks so much for commenting!


	18. How to Make a Mermaid Purr

Kylo's first instinct was to freeze up. That only made her teeth sink in harder.

Oh she pierced his skin alright. Her teeth may have been blunted by her human form, but that didn't stop her from leaving her mark. He'd been bitten before by her kind before. This time felt very different.

"Rey!"

He grits the words out, grabbing her by her shoulders and trying to push her off. He could throw her, use the Force on her to _make_ her let him go, but that might hurt her. Kylo's not sure if he could stand himself if he hurt her.

"Let go!" he grunts again.

She doesn't. Rey grips his shoulders right back, holding him in place and he can feel her jaw pulsing, working hard to sink her bite in deep.

Kylo wants her to let go on her own. He needs her to, if only to prove to himself that she hasn't just turned against him.

If she was trying to eat him, she would be chewing, right? Not just closing her teeth down and not letting up? This wasn't some wild angry attack. Whatever she was doing was very purposeful.

"Rey," he fists a hand in her hair, "for the gods woman, let me go!"

Her arms wrap around him then, holding herself to his chest. Her head rocks from side to side, doing everything she can to bite as hard as her jaw possibly can.

"Enough!"

The pain is nothing. He's suffered worse on a nearly daily basis. It's her arrow-like precision and focus that's entirely bewildering to him.

"I said enough, Rey."

Kylo steadies his voice and pulls on her hair. She _moans_. For a second time seams to stutter.

Then her jaw releases. She sags against him, resting her forehead on the center of his sternum as Kylo's grip on her goes slack with his astonishment.

"Rey."

That hadn't sounded like the moan of a hungry animal looking for its meal. Or had it?

He picks up her chin, jerking her head to look her in her eyes.

Human eyes. A flush to her cheeks and his blood pinking her lips.

" _Rey_."

She smiles. Her hands leave his back to run along his chest. He glares down at her as she opens his shirt again, pulling it to the side to admire her handiwork.

The soft flesh where she'd just bitten is red and swollen. A little blood can be seen, but for all her efforts she hadn't been able to bite him too severely. His shirt had absorbed most of the drops that she'd spilled. She leans her head forward then, aiming to return to that spot, and now Kylo holds her back.

"No."

He says it firmly. Resolutely. Rey blinks, her eyebrows pulling together. She's starting to learn that word, seemingly.

"What in all the gods is going on in that head of yours?"

He's missing something. A critical piece.

She watches his lips very closely as he speaks. For some reason that makes him feel more uncomfortable than her bite had done. She relents for now, though, settling herself further back on his legs before glancing down between them and frowning. It's not until she shifts again, her weight rocking from side to side over his legs, does Kylo suddenly realize that he's laying here with a naked woman straddling his lap.

"M'Lady."

He bucks slightly, trying to hint for her to get off of him. Her smile grows again as his hands close around her waist. She slaps them away, tossing her messy hair over one shoulder as she leans in.

And then she waits. There's something she clearly wants.

"Tit for tat, is it? Your means of apologizing for biting the hand that feeds you?"

Or neck, technically, but Kylo doesn't have time to dwell on that before she grasps him by both fists in his hair and yanks his head forward, burying him face-first against the side of her neck.

Suddenly he feels it. A faint wave of her current emotions. It reaches his mind clearer than it ever had before.

Excitement. Annoyance. A touch of fear that's almost completely eclipsed by…

By desire.

Kylo sucks in a breath at that. She jumps slightly, her heartbeat pounding in his ear.

She _desires_ him.

Kylo is no stranger to the feeling of lust. It was ordinary, natural, and something that he had chosen to only ever act upon in complete privacy. And, even in those moments when he gave in to his body's own impulses, it was something he only halfway had thought about experiencing with another person.

A gentle nudge of the Force against her hands and he makes her let his scalp go. Kylo pulls back to look at her and she's biting her lower lip, staring at him with eyes darkened.

"My Lady."

He keeps saying the same words over and over, but the pieces just aren't making sense. This can't be happening. He has to have been wrong about this.

Kylo picks her up by her waist again, using a little assistance from the Force to lift her as he stands. To his surprise, though, she latches on. Her legs wrap around his waist, holding her to him forcefully. She claps her hand against that spot on her neck, directing his attention there as her other hands grabs and holds on to the front of his shirt. The last time he had picked her up like this it had been to lock her out when she had been misbehaving. Something about the pleased but sharp look in her eyes tells him she's not going to let that happen again.

"M'lady, you know not what you're doing."

She cocks her head to the side, listening but he knows she doesn't understand. Anger flashes across her face and Kylo can't help but wonder if he hasn't just committed some sort of terrible mermaid faux pas by not biting her back.

For a moment they lock eyes and time seems to stand still. Kylo can feel his heart beating faster, nearly pounding out of his chest. Or perhaps that's her own and he's merely left breathless at the reflection of it? Truly he must be mad to even consider these thoughts he's still not allowing himself. They are too different, he and his mermaid. Two ships passing in the night like star crossing across an ocean of black skies on a path that will-

The allegory of the moment is destroyed as she starts to hump against him.

"M-"

'Lady' never leaves Kylo's shocked lips before Rey swallows her name with her own tongue. Her kiss is a frantic, messy thing. All teeth and slip and slide.

She effortlessly pushes him down flat onto his back, her liplock stunning him rather effectively.

When she pulls back there's a string of saliva connecting them. Kylo stares dumbly at her. She's flushed. Panting, her breath warm against his wet lips. Her freckles are darker.

And Rey yips when she sees the new shape to the front of his trousers. She scoots down, shimmying down his legs in a way that only aggravates the situation.

He kisses her again before she can do whatever she's thinking about doing.

Rey moans into his mouth, the sound reverberating against his teeth. She had been clumsily smooshing herself again the broad plane of his left thigh and she pulls away long enough to look down at his lower half.

Kylo's mind may still be uncertain as to the best course of action through these new, uncharted waters, but another part of him has risen to cast its vote of approval.

"M'Lady..."

His hand falls over her own, stopping her own as she moves to reach for him. She links their fingers together, or perhaps its Kylo who does that to her, and he can't stop himself from wrapping his other arm around her back and pulling her close into another locking of their lips.

He's a Knight, for kriffssake. He should act like one.

With that thought in mind he takes charge, raw determination to not get bested by a girl taking over his failing sensibilities. It's not like Kylo's never kissed before. There was this time long ago when he was still in training and a game of 'spin the flask' had broken out late at night.

That was different, though. Then was then and now is now. He has an image to uphold.

Again his hand tangles in her hair and again he jerks on it, mindful not to be too hard with her. Or not hard enough, apparently, because Rey growls into his mouth before firmly nipping his tongue.

Kylo's eyes pop open- he hadn't realized that he'd closed them- and he's met with a very cheeky, very assured glare from his guest. She pulls his hand next to her face and nibbles on his fingertips, a daring challenge all but glowing in her eyes.

"Payback for me not biting you, M'Lady?" His voice is steady, at least, even if his head can't quite tell if this is truth or a bizarrely debauched dream. "I was trying to be a gentleman. I would have thought, would have assumed, that- are you mocking me?"

Rey had rolled her eyes and started to mouth mute shapes at him, mimicking the way he was talking to her. She picks up two of his fingers, his index and his middle, and straightens them out before biting down at them to the first knuckle. Kylo huffs and tries to draw away but her jaw holds tight, a low growl echoing from her.

"You test my patience," he grits.

She starts to rock her hips, circling her lower half against where he's still chafing for attention. He catches her jaw with his other hand and draws it down, drawing his captive digits free.

"Bad," he says, shaking a chiding finger at her.

She snaps at him, her teeth gnashing in the air. Rey holds his arm firmly in place with one hand while the other grips the back of his head and tries to draw him to her neck.

"You must think me a vampire," he mumbles, words distorted by her skin.

He placates her with a kiss to that spot instead.

"M'lady, you're a madwoman."

Rey hums in answer. She loosens her grip to snuggle herself closer and this time Kylo can't resist the urge to kiss her forehead. She smiles and he swallows.

"You might be the most beautiful creature I've ever seen."

The fact that Kylo's newfound sentiment for his guest's appearance also dawned at the same time he's gone significantly farther with her than anyone else was purely coincidental. Mostly purely coincidental.

Kylo knows he must be a complete fool. Somehow, not only did his guest's feeling for him go completely unnoticed, but so did her raw beauty until this moment. He'd felt thrums of lust for her before, but he'd never allowed himself to think the obvious.

Rey nuzzles his neck, peppering the corded muscles there with. She pulls back to grin fiercely down at the mark she'd made on him, but he wraps his hand around her forehead and holds her back when he senses she wants to go in for a second taste.

"M'Lady," Kylo huffs. "I'm not for eating."

Her eyes are hidden by his palm, but her lips curl up into another toothy smile. She bounces again, her weight pressing on a very neglected area of Kylo's body.

There were a million reasons why they should stop here, but Kylo knows that first and foremost is that they can't speak with each other, they're not wedded, and they're in his _bathing room_."

He keeps his house clean, thank you, but there still were limits. Rey must sense this on some level, because she wraps her arms around his neck and sighs against him as he lifts her up. There's a growing hint of tension in her spine as he crosses the threshold into his main living quarters, and her grip on him tightens to the point that removing her from his proximity would no doubt involve losing a good section of his skin as well.

When she sees that he's taking her into his bedroom, however, she giggles and starts to kick, swinging her legs merrily in his grip.

"I need to find you some clothes," he explains quickly. "You've lost everything I've given to you, so something of mine will have to do for now."

The idea of her running around naked after what just transpired… Kylo trusts himself implicitly. He won't take advantage of her. Not anymore than what's already happened.

"Here," he sets her down on the bed, grimacing when he realizes it's still in a state of chaos from the day before. "We'll get you dressed and then I'll make dinner."

He should distract her with a meal. That's his best bet. His girl is always hungry, and perhaps if he occupies her attention with food he'll be able to slip away to attend to his own uncomfortable needs.

The sound of her weight shifts on his bed but Kylo shakes his head, trying to banish the tangle of thoughts that keep trying to snarl their way through his sense of decency. He goes to his closet and spends much longer than necessary contemplating the choices.

A soft hum comes from behind him and he warily glances over his shoulder, half expecting another sneak attack. Rey is sprawled out on his bed, tossing and turning and rolling about against his sheets like a cat marking its territory. When she sees him watching her she stills and smiles, her gaze drifting from his face to his chest and then farther down where they linger.

Then she arches her back and angles her head to the side, baring her neck at him. Kylo swallows, his mouth suddenly uncomfortably dry. Indeed his girl does look hungry, he was right about that much. Ravenous, actually, and the site of her lounging like this, her lower lip being nipped between her teeth as she contemplates him, is almost too much to withstand.

Quickly he turns his attention back to his wardrobe. It's much harder this time to fight back the images that his mind keeps tempting him with. Black. He needs something black. Black is somber, serious. It's the right color to bring balance back.

Luckily, it's also the color of nearly every piece of clothing that he owns. He pulls out his most modest tunic and extends his arm backwards, not daring to look at her.

"Put this on, please. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

Unlikely because it's suddenly far too hot in here. He can feel the weight of her stare. She's watching him, impatience for something he dares not name echoes out from her mind.

"You have some real strength to you, M'Lady," he says softly. "Next time, perhaps, you should-"

Kylo stops himself before he finishes either the sentence or the growing thought behind it. Next time. _Next time_.

His eyes widen when he hears her moan. It was an unmistakably lewd sound and his still extended arm retracts, pulling back tight against himself.

When he looks back- because he _has_ to look back doesn't he?- his guest is tangled amongst his ruined sheets, her lips parted, eyes half-slitted as she watches him, and both her hands disappearing between her legs.

Kylo gapes. Rey sighs. Her shoulders move languidly with the movements of her arms, and again she arches to present her neck for him.

"I can't bite you, My Lady. That's not how things work."

He starts to walk stiffly to the door, an odd buzzing sound in his ears as he feels his heart start to pound with renewed determination. A pillow flies through the air closing the door in front of him.

The bed creaks and Rey crawls to him. Slowly, seductively, and so clearly stalking her prey. Indecision washes over Kylo in hot and cold waves. He shouldn't. He wants to. He really shouldn't. He _really_ wants to.

When her arm extends, hand reaching out to him, he lets her.

No one else is here. No one ever has to know. Gods, she's so beautiful.

She grabs him by the front buckle of his belt and drags him close. Kylo's hands fall to her shoulders, neither holding her back or guiding her forward but rather simply resting and feeling her warm skin against his palms. Rey almost slithers up his body, rising to kneel on the edge of his bed and that brings her face to the same height as his.

She coos, tipping her chin forward to bump the tip of her nose to his. The urge to kiss her is strong, and made even more so when she darts her tongue out to wet her lips, her face so close to his that he can feel her breath as if it was his own.

"Hungry, M'Lady?"

Blood pounds through his veins, all seeming to settle in one particular spot now pressed snugly against her stomach. Feeling her so close like this is what finally brings the truth home. Yes, he has a naked woman in his bed. Yes, this is really happening and not just a vivid fantasy to ease a lonely night.

Rey's hand snakes between them to cup and cradle him and Kylo kisses quickly her to hide any sound he might make. She smiles so wide against his lips, apparently pleased with what she's found.

"Rey."

His hands tighten. So do hers and his eyes widen as he sucks in a sharp breath.

She must like it when he says her name. When he repeats it she lets go and leans back just enough for her hands to slide up to the collar of his shirt. Before he can stop her she rips it wide open, tearing it clean down the front.

"M'lady, you truly like to demolish-"

His objection is cut short by her closing down upon his neck again, her teeth finding their way right into the same grooved intents of his flesh they'd cut before.

Kylo groans then, an uncomfortably heady mix of emotions flashing through him. Rey matches with a sound of her own, but hers is something closer to a low purr.

His patience is very close to breaking. He wants to warn her of that. Her hand reaches down, squeezing him again and he gives in.

With both hands he drags her head away, tipping her face up so he can kiss her with full force. Rey makes an exceptionally happy sound low in her throat, and she falls backwards, her arms wrapping around his back to bring him laying down on top of her.

Predictably the next few moments go by in a blur. Hands are everywhere, Rey's nails raking welts across his back and shoulders as she at first claws then tears free the tattered remains of his shirt. It's not until she wraps her legs around his waist and starts bucking up, dry humping him with feral enthusiasm, that Kylo gives one last attempt at falling back into reason.

"M'Lady, we hardly know each other." He whispers it close, his kiss swollen lips ghosting over her won. "It would be highly inappropriate for us to continue."

She bites the tip of his nose. A quick nip. Then she pulls back and looks up at him with a pointedly raised eyebrow.

Kylo clears his throat and fixes her with a stern glare.

"Challenge accepted, M'Lady. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Their next kiss is messier than before, all teeth and tongues dangerously mingling together. It's interrupted only by the occasional awkward thrust of his hips as he struggles to get his boots off without separating from her.

Well that's just not happening. "One moment, M'Lady."

He tries to sound gallant as he pulls away to undress. The effect is rather ruined by the way she clings, allowing herself to only be pulled off him far enough that he can start to unlace his boots with uncharacteristic fumbling. Rey drapes herself over his back then, rubbing her bare chest against him while growling into his ear as she waits.

"Impatient, my dear guest?"

It would be impossible not to feel a surge of masculine pride at his guests wanton display. A shaky sense of confidence fills him as he kicks off his boots and turns, pushing the now hissing and snapping mermaid onto her back underneath him.

This is going well, right? Or well enough. He's the Master of the karking Knights of Ren, for goddsakes. Bedding an eager maiden should come naturally.

The longer they play the more animalisitc his mermaid seems to become in his arms. By the time he finally takes his pants off, opting to undress this last layer himself when she starts to claw at it like she had to his shirt, Rey is growling almost continually. It's a low, wild sound, and he has to hold her back with his hand in her hair to keep her teeth from closing around his shoulder for a third time.

Then the growing tension falters when he tries and fails to find the right spot and instead rams his hips against a solid bone of her pelvis.

Rey stills for a moment, a frown darkening her face. Mercifully, her confusion lasts only a moment. Realization dawns quickly, her scowl replaced by a highly inappropriate beaming grin.

She giggles and it's Kylo's turn to be annoyed.

"Yes. Fine. I've never done this before. Feel free to lend me a hand, M'Lady."

He fumbles again between her legs, frowning into the darkness of the late evening shadows because he can't quite see what he's looking for. Rey laughs then, her whole body shaking with her mirth and making his task all the harder.

"M'Lady-"

With a twist and buck of her hips she aligns them and takes care of the final decision on her own accord. Kylo's eyes widen, his hands gripping the wadded up sheets as so tight his knuckles turn white as Rey uses the mechanical advantage of her feet crossed over his butt to drive him forward.

Slick. So slick. Incredibly warm. Kylo was the universe's biggest fool for not doing before.

Rey jerks with her legs, shoving him deeper, but she suddenly cries out and stills.

Kylo blinks. Wet. Tight. She looks upset. Does he really need to stop now?

Rey reaches between them. When her hand comes back there's a speck of blood on her fingers that they both gape at.

"You are… also? As well?"

With as forward and handjobby as she had been Kylo had swallowed his dejection and assumed she had been previously experienced. His silent delight at being proved wrong is short lived, however, when she strikes him hard about the back of his head.

"Did you just hit me?"

Of course she did. Of course his feral girl would hit him the moment she lost her virginity to him, why else wouldn't she?

He offers her a kiss to soothe her and Rey makes an angry snort into his mouth before settling down.

Carefully Kylo starts a slow rhythm. This was bliss. If he were someone else he would be bragging to the world achieved something that everyone else assumes he had years ago. Now, though, Kylo has no intention of ever sharing this moment. This is strictly between the two of them. Locked eyes, fingers laced together, a steady pace as they both get used to the feel of each other.

It's a soft, beautiful few moments.

Then his girl apparently gets impatient. She smacks him upside his head again and the motion reminds Kylo of the way he'll tap his horse's backside to break it out into a run when he's riding it.

Romance deteriorates from there as primal need takes over. Kylo grips her hips then, lifting her butt up slightly to get a deeper angle. He tries to be gentle at first, but apparently nothing he can do is too rough for his mermaid. She squeezes him with her thighs, setting a pace that starts fast and rising to nearly breakneck, the whole frame of his bed creaking and shaking with their shared movements.

And then comes the clawing and growling again. If Kylo were a passerby to overhear their performance he would swear that someone was being mangled by a particularly crazed loth-cat.

Kylo tries so very, very hard to hold himself back. He can easily withstand the sting of the welts she's decorating him with, but its the way that she clenches with each thrust… He has truly no chance at all of delaying the inevitable, but he can in the least try to bring her along with him.

 _Bite me already damnit, you karker!_

She doesn't say the words in any way clearly in his mind, but the intentions comes through nonetheless. Kylo is already teetering on the very edge and, why not? She's treated him like her favorite chew toy more than once, perhaps he can skip being a gentleman for just this one special occasion?

With a firm grip he drags her head to the side, sucks in a bracing breath, and bites down hard on that same spot as she'd bitten him.

Rey shrieks like never before. The sound has edges of pain to it but a core of something very much its opposite. She immediately clamps down, locking his hips deeper with both the strength of her legs and other muscles squeezing him as well.

Kylo grunts, his face still buried against her marked flesh, as he follows her blindly over the edge. Vaguely he can feel her nails rake deep along his back. It doesn't matter. He could hardly care about anything else but the feelings of pure pleasure etching themselves into his soul.

Then, as soon as it started, Kylo starts to come back. He collapses against her, pinning the girl's sweaty and now slack body to the bed. He'd thought he was tired before when he'd gone on the hunt and slain countless many of her kind, but that paled in comparison to the deep languor that fills every part o him.

Dimly he feels a trickle down his spine. Could be his sweat, easily his blood, but he's just too darn sleepy now to care.

Until Rey pinches his ear and pulls. Apparently she had been squirming underneath him but he'd already started to nod off on top of her.

Kylo rolls to his side, the ghosts of apologies trying to leave his lips but the need to sleep it off instead drowning them to oblivion.

Rey makes some sort of displeased noise and she pokes at his shoulder. His eyes drift closed and, after a moment, she seems to give in and snuggle up close.

Sleep claims him within seconds.

* * *

author's note:

Well then! Guess we all saw that one cumming, right? It's been a long time since I've written any sex scenes, probably at least half a year and that's crazy! Gods know I've written some really E-rated filth in my day, the kind of stories I couldn't put on FFN, but for this one I tried to hold myself back and keep it milder. No need to get too-too graphic, right? I hope it was good. I agonized over this chapter quite a lot, writing and rewriting parts of it again and again to try and get the tone right.

So now we've just crossed over the 50% mark with this story's Middle Moment! If you've heard me ramble about plot and structure before you know that this s a very pivotal moment in a story, and certainly Kylo and his mermaid's relationship has changed.

The next chapter will be delayed a little bit as I get caught up with The Path that Moonbeams Make as well a few new projects. But rest assured I'll be getting back to this story soon. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and, if you did, I'll be ever so happy if you leave me a comment and let me know! :D

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comment replies:

.Feathers – Ha, glad you liked the cliffhanger! The Knights will definitely get a chance to get to know Rey better, though each in their own way. Rey really could use a girlfriend, couldn't she? Not sure if that's going to be Ria, though. They didn't exactly get off to the best start. Definitely more scenes with the Knights coming up in this last half. Thanks so much for commenting!

Czokolate – A little pain doesn't bother Kylo too much. Lucky thing that! Rey's very much in touch with her wild side, lol. Thanks for commenting and I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter!

Lipwig- Oh don't worry about Rey, girl's gonna be fine! Thanks for commenting!

Coesa Rudo – Oh I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying this story! I've been having a lot of fun writing it! Next chapter will come as soon as I get caught up on my other works, I promise! Thanks so much for commenting :)


	19. Rise and Shine, Oh Mated Knight

Chapter summary:

Just a sexy little interlude told from our favorite mermaid's POV :)

* * *

Rey was now a mated woman. She was very happy about that.

Mated to a human, no less. That was… interesting. Didn't see that one coming.

But her human mate had everything she could have asked for. He was handsome, so very nice to her, and he had very large cock. Rey was very happy about all of that. She couldn't have asked for a better mate.

She snuggles closer to him. he's still sleeping, poor thing. Poor _mate_. He's all tuckered out.

Oh and it had been his first time! How wonderful was that? Sure, he had tried to hump her thigh at one point. It had been really funny. He didn't seem to think it so funny, but then he'd gotten annoyed enough to finally stick it in. Like, _finally_.

Rey props herself up on her elbow to look at him. His chest rises and falls steadily. She's never seen his face look so tranquil. She's been spying on him in his sleep a lot recently, ever since she'd seen that big cock of his, but tonight he has an extra special look of contentment.

Yeah, that's right. She mated on him good, didn't she?

Rey giggles to herself, her lips breaking out into a wide grin as her mate starts to stir only to fall right back asleep. She'd been a little annoyed with him at first when he'd passed out on top of her. The mating had been good. _Really_ good, in fact. Other than when he'd somehow pinched her down there. But once she'd gotten used to that big cock of his she'd wanted to go again and again. She'd always pictured her mating night to be an all night long affair. Rey bets they could do all sorts of positions with these strange lower arm things of theirs. If she had her tail they could ave had some fun with that, too.

Except he'd fallen asleep like immediately. Oh that's fine. She's just going to be right here when he gets up. Rey's going to get her round two, she just has to be a little patient.

She looks out the window. The moon is setting and dawn is starting to glow. When Rey looks back at her mate she notices that his cock area is a little more visible from underneath the sheet.

Oh! Really? Okay, she's done waiting. She's given him plenty of time.

Rey starts off slow. It's going to be really fun to see what her mate can sleep through. If he's a heavy sleeper than she can have a lot of fun. And if he's a light sleeper… well then _surprise_!

Rey leans over him. Her hair falls across his face and it must tickle him because his nose twitches. Then she moves to his shoulder, admiring her bite. It was angry and red. So pretty. She hoped her own looked like that, too.

Her mate makes a slight huff when she blows on it. Or maybe it was a snore? His eyes are closed and he must still be sleeping otherwise she's pretty sure he'd wake up all flustered and bumbling like he does. He'd probably try to make those funny noises at her. Gods, the man likes to hear himself do that. He does know that she doesn't understand him, no matter how much he repeats himself, right? Annoying, but sometimes Rey doesn't mind. Sometimes Rey really likes the sound of his voice.

She traces her finger along the center of his chest. The shape of him underneath he sheet begins to stir. Rey can almost picture it. That big cock of his. She immediately feels a flush of heat run through her own body. Thank the maker her new form can get randy. It's not so bad having these lower arms. Not so bad at all.

When she reaches his bellybutton she pauses to circle it with a fingernail. His stomach muscles flex under her touch and the sheet rises ever higher.

He wakes with a sharp cry, his lower body bucking up into her hand that she had just started to drift past the halfway mark.

"Gods!"

He grabs her wrist. Rey giggles but doesn't let go. She's got a grip on him now and he'd better not tug on her too hard, or else.

"M'Lady!"

His voice is a shade higher pitched. She doesn't know what the first word means other than he says it all the karking time. The second one is her name and she gives her hand a pulse just to watch his eyes bug. Because it's not her name, but rather _his_ name for her. That makes it special.

Rey coos at him, letting him know that it's alright. She's not angry that he fell asleep on top of her after the first round. Amused and a more than a little frustrated, yes, but not angry.

She shifts her weight, rising up to her knees but never letting her grip waver. Her human's eyes widen so much. Big baby. As if she'd hurt her mate and her new favorite toy.

He starts yapping at her again. Yeah yeah, pretty boy, keep talking. Say it a few more times and it'll suddenly make sense.

Rey straddles his lower thighs and starts pumping him through the sheet. She's getting really uncomfortable now. If she was alone she'd have already finished herself off already, now that she knows how.

Ah, but Rey doesn't have to do that to herself anymore, does she? She just needs to show her handsome human thigh humper where everything goes.

Rey snatches back the covers and her human yelps. Kriff she likes her mate. A lot. Is it love? Rey's not sure, but as she strokes his cock to full attention she can't deny that she feels something very acute for him.

Love with a human in so short a time? They've known each other the blink of an eye. It feel so right though,.

To prove that to herself she lifts her hips up then down, mounting him. She had been intent on sliding down to the root in one move but it's her turn to yelp. He's… well he's really _big_. Maybe the pinch their first time hadn't been his fault, big clumsy human oaf that he is?

"Rey?"

His voice is full of such concern. His hands have wrapped around her hips and he's holding her steady, their bodies awkwardly joined a palm's width down on her journey.

Rey sucks in a breath and his hands tighten, grounding her. He's not trying to pull her off him, though. Naughty boy.

Rey closes her eyes and pictures last night. Pictures him pummeling her really good and hard. She'd liked that a lot, nearly as much as when he'd bit her. That gives her an idea. She drags one of his hands away and wraps it over her bite, pushing his palm down hard against her.

She hisses, pleasure and pain filling her just like he is. Yes. Her mating bite. She never wants it to heal. She'll rub salt in it if she has to. Anything to keep the memory of their first shared climaxes vivid in her mind.

Her mate calls her name out again. Rey cracks her eyes open to see him wearing almost as pained an expression as she assumes she has.

With a grunt Rey drops her weight, taking the rest of him. Oooh… ouch. But her mate mutters something harsh and his eyes roll back. Totally worth it just to see that.

Rey starts an easy, circular pace. Her lower arms seem to think that's the way to go, the moment just comes naturally to them. Her human grips her hips again when she lets go of his hand, her bite throbbing and quickening her pulse. Then he leans up, his hands sliding along the sweat of her back to draw her closer by her shoulders.

Rey was so glad about a lot of things. Glad she was mated and mated to _him_. Glad he had a nice, big cock. And glad that humans also liked to kiss. His lips were so soft and full, distracting her with his generous kisses until his own hips started to buck up to match her and stars bloomed behind Rey's eyes.

Just like before, the next few minutes quickly spiral. Hips move faster, tongues probe deeper. Rey loves her mate's tongue, too. Feeling it in her mouth gives her really wicked ideas. Makes her feel quite selfish and demanding.

Rey pulls away then to bring her attention back to her mate's bite. Hers still aches from where she had him squeeze her. A really good sort of ache that was matched with what he lower body was feeling as the whole bed starts to rock with their vigorous coupling.

Her mate's so nice and big but dumb. He's probably too dumb to realize that he'll need to keep his bite as raw as he can for as long as he can to make the scar nice and pretty. So Rey will have to help him out with that.

Rey sinks her teeth down exactly where she had last time. She finds her clefts and bites even harder. Her human cries out, echoing in her ear. His next thrust is much harder and Rey frowns for a moment before he collects himself. Easy there, human. She wasn't quite ready for that.

Rey punishes him by letting go with her teeth but clawing at his back again. She can still feel the welts she'd left. Oh yes, he was so mated, wasn't he? She did that to him. That was all her work.

Their next kiss is frantic and sloppy from his side. His hands are digging into her skin. His nails are short and blunted and Rey kind of wishes they weren't so he could mark her up to. Nevermind though. They're almost at the finish line, or at least _she_ is.

Rey snakes a hand between their bodies. It's a challenge given their heavy turbulence, but Rey's intent on them both finishing together. Then, provided her mate doesn't just pass out again, they can have breakfast. And then maybe go again. And then eat some more. It's going to be a great day.

Rey reaches her peak with a great howl, images of food and her mate's prowess alternating center stage in her mind. She almost gets her wish, too. Her human lasts a few more bounces than she does. Then he collapses, the bed shaking as he flops back down slack.

Or maybe she's shaking? Oh yes, Rey is in fact. That had been a really good one. Better than their first coupling.

He says something to her. Rey rolls her eyes and spings the tip of his nose with her thumb and forefinger. Silly, dumb human. Always with the making sounds.

She cuddles right in though when her mate lifts his arm. Rey rests her head against his chest, hearing how his heartbeat is still racing underneath her ear. Maybe…. Maybe breakfast can wait. Rey never thought she'd think such a thing, but that was the old her talking. Now she's a mated woman and this time her human didn't even try to stick it in the wrong hole.

Life really is good, isn't it?

* * *

When Rey wakes up its approaching being bright outside and her human isn't her pillow anymore.

She stretches and whines, feeling the full force of both sides of the aftermath of their union. Her human was both a blessing and a curse in her life, it would seem, but the longer it has been since they've been mated the more and more Rey wouldn't trade this for anything, maybe not even her tail back.

His clothing is spilled across the floor, and Rey picks up his shirt and wraps it around her. He seems to get rather fussy when she's not wearing anything. Maybe that's fair. She wouldn't want any other mermaid- or human either, for that matter- to see that big cock of his. Not that Rey isn't well within her rights and capability to kill anyone that tries to take it from her, but still… it's the principle. And since it seems to matter to her human she'll _try_ to wear these pieces of fabric more. Just for him.

Rey creeps out of the bedroom completely silently. There he is, her mate. He's starting the fire and he's only wearing something on his lower arms. It give her a perfect view of all the bright, ouchy-looking wounds she'd left on him during her passion. Heh. Maybe she doesn't have to worry about someone else. One look at him and anyone would be able to see that he's a deeply mated man.

He must not have been up for very long, and Rey leaves him to go about his morning routine. She'll bring breakfast to him. Catch him some nice, big, fresh fish. Show him how lucky he is that she chose him.

Rey slinks out the front door and picks up her favorite head-cutter. It's a beautifully sharp half-circle that she'd found when she'd killed that karking lower reefer. Sliced that dummy girl's head off like a fin through water. Rey smiles at it, savoring the memory. She's not expecting any trouble, but you never know.

The closest beach should do. That's where her mate found her and she has such warm feelings for that place. Of course she'd been terrified when she'd first laid eyes on him, and losing her tail had been pure misery itself, but it had all worked out in the end. It had been worth it.

Rey's starting her morning patrol a little later than usual. The best time was always right before dawn when the intruders would be the most active. But she'd been _busy_ with her mate. Oops. She'll be more vigilant next time.

The closer beach is all quiet and foggy. Rey dangles the fat, pudgy things at the ends of her lower arms until a fish comes by to investigate. Then she snatches it up, thumping its head hard against the rock she ad been perched on. One down, a few more to go. She and her human need a big feast this morning to keep their strength up.

She cracks a smile at that, feeling another pleasantly warm and distracting flush at the memory. Kriff, if she'd known being mated would be like this, she would haver done it years ago!

But… but then it wouldn't have been with her human. No, she would have probably been mated to some merman, and what would have happened when she lost her tail? Mating is for life, but would she have met her human then? That would have been horrible.

No. No need to worry about such things. She made the right choice. Worth the wait and now they have plenty of time to make up for all those lost years where they cumbersomely didn't know each other.

Rey skips on to the next beach, feeling happier than she has in a long time. She even juggles her favorite head cutter a few rounds until she gets cocky and nicks herself. Oops again. Good thing her mate didn't see that. He'd understand, though. He was always so patient with her.

With patience like that he'd make a good father.

Rey had been avoiding that thought for a while. Of course one of the main points of mating was to have children, but did she just condemn them both to a childless existence? They weren't the same species. It couldn't be between them.

The thought of _not_ having children with her human made Rey feel rather sad. She hadn't been trying to, but she hadn't been not trying either. Maybe it was for the best. She had already broken so many rules with mating to a human. They could be happy together with just the two of them. It would be fine.

Rey sniffs, her eyes misting up despite her optimistic thoughts. Then she catches the scent of it. Blood. _Mermaid_ blood, and fresh at that.

Immediately her deep water instincts kick in. Survive. Kill. Defend. If some shallow reefer was trying to pull something over-

Oooh, that was a lot of blood. Like a whole lot. There was a wide red streak spilling across the sands of the second beach. Rey kneels down and swipes her finger over the closet splotch. Shallow reefer definitely and it tastes about an hour old. If she'd been doing her duty properly, she could have broken up whatever had happened.

So someone thinks they can kill on _her_ territory? Oh no. Oh no no no. Rey's the alpha around here. Whoever did this is going to have to learn the hard way, and for very briefly, why you don't poach on a deep water's hunting grounds.

Rey breaks out into a run, following first the blood trail and then the scent of a human as it disappears into the tall saw grass of the coastal dunes.

* * *

Author's Note:

Ooooh, trouble's a brewing! Kylo better go get your girl or… actually, she'll probably be fine. She's got her favorite head cutter and everything! :D

Writing M rated smut is hard. Trying to find that balance between describing what's going on but not being too descriptive. And I don't think there's going to be too many more sex scenes in this fic, a few probably, but it's not really _that_ kind of story. Probably going to have some 'fade to blacks' or we'll never be able to get on with the plot!

And I'm going on vacation now, huge rush to get this and 2 other stories out before I go, so I'll be back with an update around the 27th of the month! Please forgive me if I'm a little late in getting back to your comments, but do please keep them coming! Each and very one I read and without the amazing support this story has gotten it would have never made it past ch3 let alone 19 and counting! You're all the best so thank you so much for sticking with me on this crazy AU!

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Comment replies:

CL – Thank you! I'm really glad you're enjoying this story enough to read it all at once! OMG you're the best! I'll be back as soon as I can with the next chapter, promise!

thanks so much for commenting!

lipwip -

Heh, yeah! Kissing and then some! Poor Rey had to wait EIGHTEEN CHAPTERS before getting her Knightly D, lol!

Thanks so much for commenting!

.Feathers -

Glad you're back and still sticking with this story! So often readers will stop commenting after a story reaches a certain point so I wanted to let you know that it really means a lot to me that you're still replying!

And yes, Rey really kind of wanted it down and dirty, lol. Rey's POV is next chapter so I hope you've checked it out!

Thanks so much for commenting!


	20. Hidden in the Misty Grass

"There's something, M'Lady, that we're supposed to do now."

Kylo fumbles on his words. Speaking so plainly never came well to him. He clears his throat, shuffles his feet, and tries again.

"My Lady- _Rey_. While I do not regret at all what we did last night, but-"

But does he? He shouldn't lie to her, certainly not now and given the circumstances of what he's about to say.

Deep breath. Collect yourself, Ren.

"My Lady Rey, now that we have-"

He spreads the fingers of both his hands and tries pressing and releasing them together in what he hopes is an illustrative fashion. No. Gods no. That just makes it so much worse, doesn't it?

"Kriff, I'm sorry. I'm ruining this aren't I? My Lady, what I'm trying to say it..." the words flow as smoothly as a Lolth-cat smeared in honey trying to roll its way across the surface of a fish pie.

Did… did he really just think that?

 _Gods._

This is getting worse and worse. Just force the words out and be done with it.

"M'Lady, now that we have _joined_ , there's something we must do. I- I don't have a ring to offer you, but I will remedy that as soon as I can. Now will you please agree to marry me and put me out of this verbal suffering?"

Both Kylo's shoulders and pitch slump as he forces his way through to the end of that. That being quite possibly the worst excuse of a proposal he could have fathomed. Not that he'd ever actually fathomed proposing but… circumstances dictated…

Silence.

Okay, one more try. Knock it out this time.

"Rey," he clears his throat for the millionth time. "In the short span that I have known you, you have changed me greatly. I will forever be grateful for the gods bringing us together. Please. Say yes. Give me this and the honor of being my wife?"

That? _That_? That wasn't too shabby, right? Maybe a little sappy, but far and wide Kylo's best attempt all morning.

Now he just has to remember what he just said and repeat it when he's actually in front of his mermaid girl and not standing before the one mirror in his whole house trying to not lose his mind.

Lose it anymore than he already has, clearly. He bedded a mermaid last night. Or, perhaps, was bedded by one. The details of exactly how their joining had occurred are still a little shaky in Kylo's mind, just as his own hands are as he splashes water on his face and tries to settle down his oddly raging nerves.

She's not even going to understand him. He needs to say this to her regardless. Say to her that he needs to make the commitment to her or… or… or it just wouldn't be right.

Maybe she'll accept the ring? He'll have to get her a nice one, and hopefully she'll hang onto it and not shuck it away along with every single piece of clothing he's ever tried to put on her.

Not that her compulsive nudity was necessarily the worst thing that had came along with his little human-shaped bundle of trouble.

A brief memory of their night of passion flashes hot and vivid through his mind, and Kylo has to take another deep breath to steady himself. Now he understands why some of his Knights conduct themselves the way they do. While he hardly approves of the twins and how they seem to tear a pecker-shaped swath through every willing young lady on the island, Kylo perhaps can at least relate to their impulses. Joining with Rey had been- it was-

With a grunt, Kylo shoves himself away from the bathroom mirror. He was in dangerous waters over his head as it was.

And of course his girl isn't in his bed when he gets back to her, freshly prepared breakfast tray in hand.

Kylo sighs, disappointed but not even remotely surprised when he next finds their front door open a crack. He sets the food down close to the fire to keep it warm and goes back to the bedroom to straighten it up and get properly dressed. His men would be here in the late morning. Given the events that had happened yesterday, they would most likely have much to tell him. Give him an update on the preparations for their journey and what, if anything, that Taleisin had found when he'd gone to the stretch of beach with Maz's boy.

His bedroom is in a state of disaster. It really looks like two people were fighting and then doing something else in here. Especially the bed. Kylo had never gotten a clear understanding of how his bed had gotten into such disarray before they even fell upon it together. However now it looks more condemning than ever. There were _stains_.

Kylo clears his throat and immediately strips the bedding away and places it with the rest of his laundry he was rather behind on. Then he goes about setting the room straight, picking up each piece of discarded or- in many cases- torn clothing to be dealt with as needed.

A loud volley of whistles from outside interrupts him just as he draws back the curtains to let the morning light in. The _early_ morning light, but his Knights were here already regardless and they were making quite a racket out there.

Kylo straightens his clothing, mindful that all his many bites and scratches are sufficiently covered up, and heads out to join his men and see what they're making such a noisy fuss over.

* * *

"And he was with the netting?"Kylo asks. "Inside of it?"

Taleisin shakes his head.

"No, but he was doing something to it. Almost as if he was deliberately placing the pile there. Then he saw us and ran into the water and disappeared. I tried to go after him but- well there was no point. He was gone."

Kylo pauses and his Knights fall steady behind him. The gruesome blood trail on the near beach had lead them deeper into the grass covered sand dunes. Or, more specifically, small, barefoot human footprints had lead them here. Then the trail had disappeared again, lost to tidal debris and the heavy morning fog.

"The man disappeared _into_ the water," Kylo repeats.

That was the oddest part of Taleisin's already odd story of what he had found when he went with Maz's boy to where the heart had been.

"Did you have a chance to read his soul?" Aemon asks.

"I didn't have time. As soon as he saw us he fled."

Kylo grunts under his breath. Taleisin's powers were strong but very focused and, unfortunately, detection and mind reading weren't his brother's strongest skills.

"How could a man just disappear into the water like that?" Aemon asks. "Didn't you see him swimming out? Where he went?"

Taleisin shakes his head. He shifts slightly, bracing himself against the morning cold, reminding Kylo that if Rey is out here, she's only wearing his shirt. Or nothing at all.

He motions for them to continue on.

"Let's head up this way. Eventually this will lead to the main trail. There's nothing around here otherwise."

It was a lonely, desolate part of the coastline. Exactly why Kylo had first chosen it for his own home, but now there was an almost palpable sense of foreboding that clung to the air. Everything was quiet, save for the occasional rustle of fabric or clink of his Knight's armor.

That made the screaming all the more abrupt.

A man's voice. Yelling. Shouting. Terrified and incoherent but close.

Kylo doesn't have to tell his Knights what to do. He charges forward first, with Aemon close behind him and Ria and Taleisin sticking together and rounding off to the side.

He crests the closest hill and the screaming grows louder. From here he can see the road in the distance ahead but there's a wide open field of deep and tall sea sawgrass between them. The stalks are thrashing, taller than even Kylo is, and whoever is inside there screaming bloody murder is running closer.

Kylo pulls out his saber and crouches by the edge of the field, reaching out with the Force to track the movements.

And a man stumbles out, all but throwing himself free of the grass thicket. No, two men, the second is close behind the first but still trapped in the maze of nearly impassable sawgrass.

For the first one, he's both are covered in blood and his clothing is torn. He shouts when he sees Kylo and Aemon and tries to recoil, but Kylo reaches out, pinning him down with the Force.

The Force presence of the second one reveals that he's badly injured, a condition no doubt made worse by the grass he has to push his way through. Kylo is about to send Aemon hacking his way through to get to him, but then the feeling suddenly stops just as abruptly as it had began.

"Did- did something just _get_ him? Taleisin draws his own weapon and watching the swaying wall of grass with open alarm.

Kylo has a pretty strong hunch about what's just happened, but for now he turns his attention to the intruder they have. The bloody man curses and struggles against his invisible bonds, a large knife still gripped tightly in his hand.

"Do any of you recognize him?" Kylo asks his Knights. Ria and Taleisin stay off to the side, securing the perimeter, and Aemon frowns and shakes his head.

"No," he says. "But he's definitely not a villager."

Kylo leans forward to take a closer look. The injured man is now turning a rather strange color of blue underneath the blood splattered around his face. Kylo let's his grip go enough to let him breathe and the man crumples to a shaking heap against the sand.

"Who are you?"

Kylo kneels down next to him to wrestle the knife free from his clenched fist.

"I'm- I'm not-" the words come out roughly, and the man refuses to meet his eyes. "I'm not telling you shit."

Kylo sends a pointed look to his Knights. He should have been wearing his mask for this, he is far more intimidating like that, but he hadn't left his tower expecting an interrogation.

"Alright. Do you know who _we_ are?"

We have ways of making you talk. That's the implication Kylo sends into the man's panicked mind.

Renewed fear he had expected, but when the man finally lifts his chin to look him in the eyes he's met with pure, unrestrained hatred.

"I fucking know who you are," he spits, "and I'm telling you shit."

It's Taleisin that crouches next to him now. The second youngest night regards the man carefully before shaking his head.

"First, that's uncalled for. And you're not the man in the water, are you?"

The mysterious man who disappeared into the ocean waves. Truly strange dealings are afoot on their once-quiet island.

True to his word, the bloody man doesn't answer. Only glares defiantly back at them. All around them a quiet falls, but it's not a still quiet. The heavy reverberations of death wash over them, and a brief glance at his Knight's faces reveals they're feeling it too.

"Guess that explains what happened to your friend, eh?"

Aemon nudges them man's chin with the tip of his blade. Kylo's patience begins to wear thin, already drawn out by their guest's rude lack of any form of cooperation, and he pulls off his right glove before wrapping his palm around the man's sweaty forehead.

He doesn't bother with being especially gentle. In all likelihood they're going to have to kill this stranger very shortly rather than turn him in and leave him tot he village to decide on. Larger matters of Island security fall strictly under the Knight's jurisdiction, after all.

The first image that spills behind Kylo's closed eyes is one of carnage. A dead mermaid being hacked apart. It must have been from the night before, and this man had been there along with his ill-fated friend and several others.

 _I think that was the one I saw._

Taleisin says it into his leader's mind, using their connection to share in the vision and direct his attention to one of the strangers. It's a face he hasn't seen before. In fact, none of the people are familiar.

Kylo presses on, ignoring the pain filled grunts from the man he's holding down. He presses harder into the memory, trying to make out what the group of men were saying as they conducted their operation on the the dead mermaid. Only bits and pieces of conversation come through, flashing in bursts of limited comprehensibility.

 _-take her back-_

 _-bit of a shame-_

 _-just the heart then-_

 _-if we bring another to Snoke we'll-_

Kylo breaks their connection then. He stands, glaring down at the trembling man as a cold anger starts to fill him. The conversation he been eavesdropping on had begun to be overlaid with another memory. The hold of a ship. The same group of men. Rey had been there. She had been locked up in a tiny box. More of a coffin really, it was so small she couldn't stretch out her limbs or tail. They had been bringing her somewhere. For why exactly was unclear, but the ultimate goal would have been to cut out her heart just like they had to their last victim.

Kylo tightens his grip on the handle of his saber until he can hear the metal creak. Around him his Knights stay silent, wisely choosing to hold back their questions until a later time.

As Kylo ponders this man's fate- keep him for later interrogation or simply end his wretched life here and now- the tall grass parts again. Their prisoner curses, uttering a deep and low _oh fuck me_ , as Rey emerges. She saunters out of the grassy field, barefoot, naked, and blood dripping off the edge of a curve gardening implement Kylo had noted as missing earlier.

"That psycho bitch monster a pet of yours?" their prisoner barks. "Should have just killed her when we had the chance. Nasty animal, that's what she-"

Without warning, Kylo backhands him, cutting him off before he finishes. The man crumples to a heap, spitting up blood from the wound. Aemon grabs his shoulder, yanking him back up to his hands and knees.

"Tell me about Snoke."

Kylo keeps his voice as even as he can as Rey comes to stand next to him. Her posture is tense and she pointedly is ignoring the wide-eyed stares of the other Knights as they regard her.

"I told you I ant telling you-"

Kylo backhands him again, this time much harder. So hard, in fact, that he probably broke the man's jaw or at least his nose. This time Aemon leaves him laying there, but sticks his booted foot under his torso to flip him over.

"You'd do well for yourself not to fight us so much," Taleisin says, still hanging back to the sidelines to not break their tactical formation. "You know we're going to kill you, of course, but the manner that happens is your own choosing."

Kylo stomps over and stands above the man, dragging him partially up with his fist in his hair before closing his eyes and pushing into his mind again.

Snoke. _Snoke_. He rakes his presence over the memories, trying to find any lead in the right direction. Unfortunately the man's current emotional state is erratic, his thoughts laced with a mix of fear and malice and pain. It's hardly the most conductive environment for a mental interrogation, but that just makes Kylo push even harder, using far more blunt technique than he normally would even for a regular prisoner.

The man cries out in pain, the sound of it echoing both in his head and in Kylo's ears. Taleisin's presence joins them, their healer not trying to soothe the process but rather to add in his own precision to the technique.

Kylo skims past the more recent memories. This man and his comrades had lured a mermaid into some sort of netted trap before killing her. That had been this morning, not night like Kylo had first thought. Before then they had done it again, this time on a different part of the island. The very place where the Knights had their hunt a few days before.

Again and again they had slaughtered the merfolk. Hunting them very deliberately to cut out their hearts and then discard the rest.

But not Rey. Kylo had gone far enough back to when they had first captured her. Something about her had been different. _Sh_ _e_ had been different. They had been so afraid of her, of whatever she was. That had lead to torture and starvation to keep her weak. Weak enough that they could take her to-

to _Snoke_.

Snoke wasn't a person, it was a place. Or perhaps it was both.

And it wasn't something that this man knew any more of. A nameless, faceless employer. He was just a hired thug. Why he was doing this he didn't know, nor did he care. A dead mermaid was a paycheck to him, and he had been paid handsomely for his bloodshed.

Kylo severs their correction abruptly and steps back. The man collapses, nearly unconscious from the rough mental treatment.

"Sir?" Taleisin asks, steadying himself after the abrupt departure.

"Kill him. Do it quickly and be done with it. Or, better yet, I'll do it myself."

He draws out his saber again, stepping forward, but Rey beats him to it. She lunges onto the man's back, yanks his head up, and promptly severs it cleanly from his shoulders.

His Knights take a step back in shock, or at least Taleisin and Aemon do. Ria stays right where she is but withdraws her own weapon.

Rey immediately crouches, growling at her and holding the cutting tool in one hand and the severed head in the other. Below her the body still, not even twitching its death was so sudden.

"Ria, step back," Kylo orders.

"She just-"

I _know_. Step back. She's feeling threatened."

And she really doesn't like you, he omits.

"Hardly looks threatened to me," Aemon mutters.

Ria takes a single pace backwards then straightens, standing her ground in front of the smaller but highly predatory mermaid.

"Why can't we sense her?" Taleisin asks. "I can't feel anything at all."

He reaches out, pushing an inquisitory wave of the Force at Rey who merely cocks her head at him then rises to stand.

Rather than answer, Kylo toes at the body. He's attired in the manner of a common sailor, and a quick check of the pockets reveals nothing more than a few coins and a piece of paper. Written on it is a crudely sketched symbol.

"Any of you?" Kylo asks, holding it up for the others to see.

"It's a crest," Ria says. "Perhaps a ship symbol? Not one from either our Island or Winterton, however."

She takes a step closer to look and Rey growls in warning, earning her a rather contemptuous sneer from the much bigger Knight.

"Master Ren, is your _guest_ going to be a problem?"

The last thing Kylo wants is to break up another altercation between the two women. He hands Ria the scrap of paper before taking Rey by the shoulders and guiding her back a step. Rey frowns up at him, a pout forming on her lips, and she takes his hand with her own before pressing it over the bite wound to her neck and squeezing her own skin as if to remind him of its existence. Then she lets go, her point apparently having been made, and stomps back to near the edge of the grass where she crosses her arms and scowls.

When Kylo turns back to his Knights the mix of bewildered and amused and irritated looks her receives tell him that that little interlude had not gone unnoticed.

"Is that a _bite_ on her shoulder?" Taleisin asks, his voice pitched.

A beat passes before Aemon abruptly cracks up.

"Perhaps-" he tries to mask his bark of laughter as a cough, "-perhaps we should continue this inside where it's not so cold? Considering that the _girl_ isn't wearing a stitch? Again?"

During the heat of the moment Kylo had forgotten entirely about the cold. Now, however, it was ever present. It seemed like winter was set on arriving early.

Rey wasn't shivering, though. She still held her prize and her weapon, and she shrugs away from Kylo's touch to her shoulder when he approaches.

"We'll go back," he tells the others. "Then to town. Speak to Maz about this and prepare the ship. It seems we'll need to hasten our departure from this island sooner than we'd thought."

He turns then, his Knights following behind him as Rey sprints ahead, pushing past them to race back in the way to the watchtower on her own.

* * *

Author's note:

Getting there with the plot. Getting there!

If anyone's interested, you can find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight or on twitter at Ava_Avdal !

Comment replies:

CL – Thanks for the vacation wishes! I had a great time! And I always like to end on a little cliffy just to keep the suspense building, lol. Thanks for commenting!

.Feathers – Oh thank you! I'm so glad you like and are sticking with this crazy, oddball AU! I know my updates are erratic but I'll try to have the next chapter up soon :). Thanks so much for commenting!


	21. Good or Bad Omens? Part One

"Oh she's a beautiful thing, isn't she? But I expect I don't have to tell you that."

Maz's sun-worn hand prods at Rey's face, turning her chin this way and that. Kylo sighs, sensing his mermaid's growing irritation.

Then Maz pulls down on Rey's lip as if to inspect her teeth and she snaps literally,gnashing at the old woman's surprisingly nimble fingers. Maz chuckles as she shrinks back, settling down into her armchair to regard them both. Around them were several of the other Knights, most watching the display with shades of open amusement or, in the case of Taleisin, poignantly ignoring them as he thumbs through Maz's impressive collection of leather-bound tomes.

"So-" Kylo clears his throat as Rey flops next to him, practically body-slamming herself against his chest. "Now that you've had a look at her… what is she?"

Maz purses her lips and tips her head from side to side. Rey crinkles her nose then mirrors the movements and Kylo can feel the start of a fresh headache begin to bloom.

"Oh I'd reckon she's a halfling. That's my best bet. But she doesn't turn back you say? Not even when she gets into the water?"

Kylo frowns at the old woman. Halfling? He looks at Rey who scoots even closer to him, trying to take his arm under her palm but he dodges. The weight of his men's gazes falls as heavily as the silence before Kylo clears his throat and answers.

"You mean to say that… that she's not a regular mermaid? That she can come and go between the ocean and land as her home? How in the gods is such a thing possible?"

"And what's a halfling?" Taleisin adds, not taking his eyes up from the exceptionally old looking and unmarked book in his hands.

Maz raises an eyebrow. Kylo can't help but feel very appraised at this moment. Next to him Rey reaches for his hand but he pushes her back again. Propriety.

"A halfling is exactly what it sounds like," Maz answers. "Half-human, half-mermaid. Very rare. More than that. I don't think I've ever actually heard of a real one in all my days, and I've had a good number of those."

Rey kicks at Kylo's shin and he shifts, edging to the furthest corner of Maz's couch.

"Half-human and half-mermaid? How in the bloody well does that happen?"

She hadn't been half of anything. When Kylo had first seen her all tangled up in that netting, she'd been all mermaid. All teeth and claws and wild eyes. Now she's all human. _Very_ human, in nearly every possible way.

Maz chuckles and shakes her head at him. She sets down the cup of tea she'd been nursing and raises both her hands in the air, palms facing each other.

"I shouldn't have thought I'd have to explain this to you, My Lord, but sometimes something magical can happen. A man and a woman, or a merman and mermaid if you prefer, meet and come together."

She presses her palms flat against each other and Kylo feels vaguely chagrined but he doesn't know why.

"I-" he begins to say, but Maz interrupts him with a sudden and abrupt linking of her fingers together.

"They come together like this, in fact." She slams her palms together a second time to illustrate her point. "And sometimes even like _this_." Her palms open and close rapidly, crating a highly rude sounding clapping noise.

Oh gods, enough of _that_."

Kylo angrily swipes his hand through the air, silencing the vulgar old woman with a wave of the Force that rattles the teacups on the table. Next to him Rey reaches for his knee as if to soothe him.

"Oh, do you get the idea now?" Maz chortles. She wisely settles back down though, now resting her hands primly on her lap, her palms again pressing together as if in prayer.

Kylo mentally counts to ten before drawing Rey's hand away from him and forcing himself to settle back down against the cushions.

"Fine, yes," it takes an effort to keep his voice even, "I understand the mechanics of what you're implying. But, do you truly mean to say that such a- a _union_ could create an offspring? We are not of the same species, the merfolk and us, it would be an impossibility."

Maz's smile grows and she shakes her head, raising a single finger in the air and swiping it down.

"Nothing's impossible, Lord Ren. Improbably yes. Highly improbably as well. And yet the proof of the odds is sitting right here in my parlor, desperately tugging at your cloak to get your attention. Funny how things works out, isn't it?"

Kylo frowns at Rey. She's wadded up his cloak between her hands and picks it up, bringing her head down to it to sniff it. Then she yanks hard, trying to force Kylo to come closer.

"If-" it takes him a few moments of struggling with his girl to get his thoughts in order. "If a human and a mermaid _were_ to lay with another, theoretically speaking, then a halfling as you call it could result? But it would be very, very unlikely? How unlikely? Just if you happen to be able to guess?"

Rey's starting to get annoyed with him. Her upper lip curls back, bearing her softly rounded human teeth. Kylo swallows, fighting now not only to keep the girl under control but also dodge the curious probes on his mind by his Knights.

"My Lord Ren," Maz almost coos his formal title, "you seem quite pale all of a sudden? Are you feeling alright? Another cup of tea, dear?"

Taleisin snaps the book he was reading shut, his something appalled expression only briefly hidden by the ensuing cloud of dust. Predictably it's Ria that beats him to the moral condemnation first.

"Gods Kylo. The girl doesn't even _speak_. What could you have possibly been thinking?"

Kylo groans, dropping his head. The cat's out of the bag then, eh?

Rey flops onto her back and kicks at him, nudging him insistently in the ribs. He's never been an optimist, but at least there's one silver lining: the twins aren't here to witness his embarrassment at this revelation being aired. Taleisin and Ria will lecture him plenty. Of that he's sure. But dealing with the twins undoubtedly crude remarks on top of that would be hard to bear right now.

There's only one thing to do for it, though. Change the subject as quickly as possible.

"She first transformed when I grazed her with my sword," he says. "She still has the mark on her arm, it's not healing like a regular wound. Here. Look."

He reaches around Rey to pick up her arm on the other side. She misreads the gesture and snuggles in close, but she allows him to present her wound to a now profoundly smiling Maz.

"My goodness." The old woman's scant eyebrows shoot up high. "This looks like it's barely stopped bleeding! And it's an older wound, you say? At least a week or more?"

"Yes."

Ria leans closer, earning her a warning growl from Rey. Taleisin stays where he is, but Kylo can see his neck craning over his fellow Knight's shoulder to inspect it.

"Why is it still like that?" Kylo asks. "Why hasn't it healed properly? It was only a tiny knick of my blade, barely a scratch at that, but that was when her tail turned into legs and they haven't turned back yet."

Maz presses her lips together and shakes hr head. Rey begins to fidget, clearly not liking being the center of all their attentions.

"Well for that I don't have an answer for you, Lord Ren. Such beautiful beings as a mermaid halfling were only folktales into my mind until today. You'll need to speak to someone who knows better."

Kylo lets Rey go and she falls back against the couch, now poking at her wound curiously until Kylo steadies her hand.

"You mean the Island of the Sages then? That's all my research has lead me to, but if there's a closer place then-"

"None," Maz shakes her head. "But this time of year? That journey across the sea?"

She clicks her tongue and Kylo nods. He's already well aware of the dangers, but it seems like there's to be no other choice.

"Taleisin, how soon can we set sail?"

Their second youngest Knight picks up the book he had been reading again and moves to put it in his satchel, but Maz bounds up with surprising speed to take it back from him.

"By tomorrow," he says quickly, straightening his stance. "Aemon has already secured us a ship, and if we press the villagers to hasten they should have no trouble filling the hold with all the stocks we'll need by morning."

Morning. Just one more day. Kylo knew he and his men would be ready, but now they had someone far more unpredictable to consider as well.

"We shall all go into town and see to the preparations. Split up but stay in contact throughout. Tonight we will meet in the great hall and decide who stays and goes."

Kylo turns his focus back to Maz who had been pretending to sip politely at her tea and not listen in to every word they'd been saying.

"Maz, I believe we have a business proposition for you, if you're so inclined to hear it."

Maz's sly smile returns in a heartbeat.

"Oh I'm _always_ inclined for business, surely you know that by now?"

Kylo grunts. He never did like the old woman by any particulars.

"It will require discretion. Your _absolute_ discretion, do you understand?"

The smile grows, showing a crescent moon line of teeth.

"Well now I truly am interested," she chirps. "More tea anyone? I find that discrete business is best settled with a full mug in out hands."

Kylo grunts but nods. Rey eyes him for a moment before mimicking with her own grunt-nod as well.

Then he and the Knights settle down to iron out the details of using Maz's young minions while they're away.

* * *

author's note:

Sorry for the short chapter but I'll have the 2nd part up very very soon! Today I'm...looks around house in state of chaos… er, yeah, I've got my hands full over here so 1 shorty chapter it is!

* * *

Comment replies:

White Demon Feathers– I'm so glad you like this! Kylo's a big dork here, but they're making progress in their relationship slowly but surely. Thanks for commenting!

Coesa Rudo – Thank you! I'll try to update soon I promise! Next chapter should be up soon : )

thanks for commenting!


	22. Good or Bad Omens? Part Two

Navigating through the market with Rey had been difficult, but not as disastrous as Kylo had been braced for.

Some of the villagers recognized her from before. That wild-eyed, naked, feral girl who would eat everything in sight. That _animal_.

Oh they wouldn't dare say that last part out loud. Not when the beast in question was bounding about, seemingly utterly carefree while the dour Master of the Knights loomed behind her. But he could hear it in their thoughts, broadcast just as clearly as the mothers would by tucking their children behind them when the two of them passed.

"Add this to our bill. Master Aemon will take care of the details before our departure."

The butcher nods silently, passing over the freshly baked meatloaf without a blink of eye contact. Disapproval washes off from him as Rey hangs on tight to Kylo's arm. She's been very clingy all day, and Kylo isn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Here, eat this," he says softly, handing her a piece of the baked treat.

Rey sniffs it curiously, nibbling at first before chomping down. It appears that there was a direct correlation between her good behavior and the amount of food in her hands and mouth, Kylo notes. So to get through today keeping her well-fed will be essential.

 _Let's get some proper clothes for you next._

Kylo presses the words into her allusive mind and her head snaps up, eyes wide. He guides he away from the watchful eyes and leads her down through the network of alleyways to the town's tailor. She was wearing one of his shirts now. _Another_ one, though Kylo's own wardrobe was beginning to look rather sparse due to her relentless proclivity to tear off her clothes and cavort about as naked as the day he met her.

"I'll need to get us both proper gear for our journey," he says to himself though Rey tips her head to listen. "Some appropriate modifications to my armor and for you- well, you'll want something you can move in, won't you? Something warm against the biting sea cold but not too restrictive. The tricky part will be getting you to keep it on. I can usually have you put on things without too much fuss, but it'll be two weeks at sea and if you keep throwing your clothing away-"

A crusty corner of the meatloaf is pressed to his lips. Rey looks up at him expectantly until he takes a bite.

"Was I talking too much, M'Lady? Is this your way of silencing me?"

Similar, he notes, to his own plan for her. Keep her fed and keep her happy.

Another pieces appears and he takes it from her, opting to eat it himself rather than risk any villagers see him being finger-fed by a crazy woman.

When they arrive at the tailor, Kylo's informed that Ria has already been there. She's seen fit to attend to the rest of the Knights sartorial needs, and the two other customers immediately make themselves scarce rather than be in his looming presence.

First Kylo gives specifications to his own armor. A rush job, and the tailor's eye light up at the increased price he'll receive for such a short notice. Kylo's armor will need to be repaired from the damages he'd taken during the hunt. For the sea journey he will need special wool underlayers and an extra layer of weatherproofing over the metal parts to protect them from rust. Just for good measure, Kylo order a few extra pairs of shirts and pants in case any of his should just so happen to end up shredded and hurled to the bottom of the ocean.

Then comes the tricky business. The girl.

"Measure her. I would like it a custom fit and something quite snug but with give."

And something that will be hard to take off. And warm for the cold. And soft enough not to annoy her skin but still tough to offer at least some protection.

It was a tall order, and the tailor would no doubt have to work well through the night to fulfill all their requests by the time they set sail tomorrow. However, it wasn't the deadline that seemed to concern him the most. Rather, when he cautiously approached Rey, tape measure in hand, she began to growl and hunch over.

"Rey. Now. Behave."

 _Please_.

She doesn't look like she's going to behave. She looks like a cornered animal about to strike, and the poor tailor wavers mid step as she hisses at him, swatting through the air at the extended measuring tape.

A memory pops into Kylo's mind of when she had been tied up before, by the body smugglers when they'd kept her in their hold.

"Allow me."

He snatches the measuring tape without hesitation, pushing the small, elderly man aside before kneeling in front of his mermaid.

"My lord?"

"Rey, extend you leg out. Please."

He sends a mental image into her mind and cautiously one of her tanned legs emerges from the center parting of his shirt. She starts to giggle when he takes her foot, pressing one end of the tape to the inside bottom of her heel.

"Take down the measurements, if you please. We'll try to get them as accurate as we can, and until then a simple ready-made shift dress and lace-up curaisse will do for today."

Agitated fumbling from behind him, then he hears the numbers of her foot measurement being written down. The tailor hadn't dared say it before, but Kylo could hear his unspoken disapproval that this young girl was only wearing a man's shirt and nothing else, not even sandals.. One of Kylo's own shirts, no doubt for the tailor had made to measure them himself.

Kylo tries to make the business of measuring her as quick as he can, though it's hard with how much she squirms. Taking her inside leg requires special care to prevent her from simply lifting up the hem of his shirt to give him clear access. Behind him the tailor all but broadcasts his silent plea for the two of them to _hurry up and get out of here_.

"There," Kylo says when he finishes. "Take those measurements and go to the fabric merchant. Get enough to make her three of everything."

"But Sir, my shop-"

"I will go through what you have in stock here and pick out the pieces that she likes. You'll be well reimbursed for all and for your troubles and discretion as well."

The old man is understandably reluctant to leave, but he finally shuffles off with a less than approving mutter as he goes. Truth be told Kylo was both getting tired of his unspoken judgment as well as eager to have Rey try several different things on herself in the hopes that her own selections may linger on her body for longer.

Rey doesn't quite seem to get the picture of what they're trying to do. He'll hold up a garment for her to inspect and she'll look at it or back at him before dropping it and going back to the now half-finished meatloaf.

"Well that didn't work, did it?" Kylo pulls out three different lengths of dresses to consider. "Do you at least have a favorite color? White, blue, or- or black? Would you like the black?"

He presents them to Rey and she shakes her head. If Kylo didn't know better, he would almost think she's getting exasperated with him. Her hand finally extends out though, when Kylo refuses to back down from her having to make _some_ sort of choice. She touches the white dress first, leaving a faint stain from the meatloaf she'd been shoving into her face moments before.

"White. Ah. That's… that's fine. We'll stick with lighter shades. Have to buy this one now anyhow, don't we?"

It's perhaps a shade disappointing. Not color one he would have chosen for her, but it certainly make coordinating her other pieces easier.

But who knew women's underwear was so complicated? The tailor's shop boasts a wide range of options; everything from massive woolen directoire knickers to things so tiny and transparent that Kylo keeps looking over his shoulder to make sure no one is watching him inspect them. He chooses something in between. Normal looking panties. White. Soft material. Not too big and not too small. Just normal. Then he guides his guest into the rear changing room along with an armful of items to try on.

Rey giggles again when he pulls his back shirt off of her. For the life of him Kylo would love to know what she's thinking. What is it that she thinks he's doing to her as he lifts her arms up, bringing them both above her head so he can slide the first dress on?

She doesn't fight him, though. That was a big part of why he'd sent the tailor away. His mermaid seems to get very antsy around strangers, though by increments she's been better behaved when his Knights are around now.

The dress was the simple white shift she had chosen for herself. Chosen being relative, but it was a good pick that fits her well. Ultimately the goal will be to get her used to wearing more layers at a time- the late fall boat ride is sure to be cold indeed at night- but for now Kylo's greatly relieved that she doesn't seem to mind the clothes as much as she had the first time he'd tried to dress her.

"Lift your foot up," he requests, bending to raise her left leg off the floor himself.

There's a very odd moment as Kylo slides her panties up her legs. Rey squirms a lot then, laughing as he fumbles somewhat. Then she slaps the back of his shoulders, almost pushing his head closer to- to a certain place, but surely that must have been a clueless mistake on her part.

Kylo stands quickly then, smoothing her dress down over her now panty-clad hips.

"You'll need to, um," he gestures through the air at her lower half, "for toileting you'll need to- oh, you'll figure it out. I'm sure."

Last is the curaisse lace-up. This is hardly a proper corset, Kylo would never dream of inflicting such a restrictive garment on the girl, but it is made of a thin leather that would offer protection to both the elements and minor wounds. His mermaid's first armor, essentially. It also just so happened to have the side benefit of taking just a little more time to take off, should Rey happen to have any spur of the moment nude aspirations.

"There, let's have a look at you."

Kylo takes a step back, clearing his throat as he notes how the last piece of his handiwork seems to emphasize her bosom in fascinating ways. It's an effect that Rey seems less than impressed with, and she grabs the bottom edge of the lace-up and wriggles about, tugging and yanking on different parts of her garments with an admittedly charming pout on her lips.

"Rey, it's for your own good. Really."

He catches her chin and she jerks it away, snapping her teeth at his fingers testily.

"It's almost winter and you can't go around naked. And it's not so bad, is it?"

He adjust the straps of her curaisse, ensuring that the fabric of her dress lays smoothly under it. Rey wrinkles her nose, a low growl emanating from between her bared teeth.

"Oh now I know that's just for show. You look beautiful, Rey. Does it help if I tell you that? You look beautiful."

Her fake-growl stops. Instead, she pouts again, and still refuses to look at him.

"Rey?" he leans closer. "Don't be mad for too long, alright? You. Look. Beautiful."

Carefully, mindful of being bitten, he turns her head to face him. There's a hint of a smile now when he caresses her cheek.

Then he clears his throat, stepping back, and Rey grabs his wrist.

"Rey? What-"

The look she shoots him now shuts him up in an instant. She'd looked angry, or rather _annoyed_ , before but now she looks… hungry. It's an expression he saw this morning, in fact.

"Oh. M'Lady, we-"

Rey yanks him forward, crashing their lips together.

It's a messy kiss. Plenty of tongue and teeth from her side and Kylo only half-heartedly tries to draw himself away. Blood immediately starts to pound in his veins, his pulse quickening as their kiss transforms to something even more passionate.

Rey pulls away first, her eyes wide and dark. She glances back behind herself to the low shelf where Kylo had laid the garments she's yet to try on. They're shoved to the side as Rey hikes herself up onto the impromptu bench and spreads her legs wide. Kylo gapes, frozen to the spot as she starts to rub herself.

"My-My Lady we _really_ can't. Not here."

And maybe not ever, given what Maz had said to him only an hour before.

Rey rolls her eyes at him, shaking her head as her hands picks up pace between her legs. She struggles with her new panties, trying at first to draw them to the side then, when that fails, to wriggle out of them.

"Please, M'Lady."

He reaches to stop her and she grabs her wrist again, holding him close to her as she apparently gives up. She snatches the thin material with her other hand and yanks, ripping the minimalist garment clear off of her and fully baring herself to him.

Then she starts to rub with renewed vigor, her spread ankles snaking their way behind Kylo's bottom to draw him closer to her lurid display.

"The Tailor," he tries feebly, finding it rather hard to think of a better defense with all the blood leaving his head to settle elsewhere.

That poor old man. If he were to walk in on them now, it might be more than just Kylo's reputation that would perish.

Rey drags him forward to another kiss, her hand letting go of his wrist to twine her fingers with his own. She pulls away to nuzzle her face into his palm before very deliberately pinching his middle three fingers straight and popping them into her mouth. Then she guides them down between their two bodies, a quick smack to the back of his head with her free hand being all the further instructions she offers.

Well if Kylo had thought their kiss had been fumbling, this was something else. He tries to find the right spot, stroking her slick folds awkwardly from both the angle and how wriggly Rey is as he touches her. He knows he reaches it when she coos, her hips grinding against his hand to make his thumb press down on her _just so_.

Carefully he eases his middle finger inside her and she grins, resting her forehead against his shoulder as a tremble shoots up her body.

The angles involved don't give him much leverage- or comfort- but his mermaid certainly doesn't seem to mind. She rides his hand with joint-aching enthusiasm, her teeth finding his bite through the fabric of his shirt when the one finger becomes two and then biting down hard, malign him grunt, when two becomes three.

Rey climaxes hard, quickly, and messily, her inner muscles squeezing against his digits almost as hard as her legs hold tight around his hips.

Then she slumps, all the fight seeming to leave her body as he carefully retracts his hand. His wrist pops when he rolls it in a circle, trying to restore circulation after her vigorous demands to it. Rey snuggles close, leaning her weight against him. Kylo half-hugs her, debating the best approach to dealing with his soaked fingers but Rey takes the guesswork for him and brings his hand back to her mouth to lick them clean.

He's painfully hard, his insistent pressing against her stomach and the room nearly seeming to spin as Kylo fights to collect himself. That had been… abrupt. And loud. Thank the gods he had sent the tailor away because staying quiet was certainly not among his girl's strong points.

Her hand palms him and Kylo's eyes widen. She's not raising her head but she's watching him, a profoundly wicked smile now gracing her flushed face.

"Gods."

He should stop this. Not after what Maz warned. Or not so much warned as crudely illustrated. But as Rey starts to stroke him, in no way especially gently, Kylo finds his hands wandering of their own accord to his belt to undo it.

Rey gasps happily when he frees his straining length from his trousers. She scoots her butt forward and leans back as much as the shelf so clearly not designed for such activities will allow her. Then she spread her bent legs wide and makes the most enchanting little whine when Kylo aligns himself and pushes inside.

This is going so much more smoothly than their first coupling. Probably because Kylo can actually see what they're doing, but he dares not look to long at where they're joined or the room starts to spin again.

Rey squeaks when he pushes a little deeper, her eyes popping wide open and her hands fluttering through the air as if fanning it. Kylo pauses, waiting a moment, before gripping her hips to adjust their angle and pushing forward another inch.

She trembles again, giving him a rather fascinating physical feedback, and twines her arms around his shoulders. She holds on tight, low, tense-sounding noises emanating from her as he slowly and carefully sinks to the root in her then hold still.

For a moment they stay like that, with Rey fully impaled and clinging so tightly to him that Kylo can feel her nails sinking into the meat of his shoulders while she adjusts. His cue to start moving is when her death grip finally relaxes, the tension in her legs slackening enough for him to begin shallow thrusts.

Then the pace picks up and the growling begins. She gnashes her teeth, yowling against his ear as he pins her, their movements quickly escalating to a pace closer to a gallop than a leisurely lovemaking. When Rey climaxes again, her teeth sink right back into his now aching bite wound. She latches on tight, biting hard enough that Kylo's control briefly slips and he slams his hips forward as she drags him across the finish line with her, earning him a deeper few grunts from his mermaid before he collects himself.

The next few moments are spent in a panting, slumped haze of sweaty limbs. Almost obscenely Rey kisses his no doubt oozing bite through the fabric of his shirt. When she pulls away she looks up at him almost triumphantly, cementing the suspicion is Kylo's mind that yes, she is in fact trying to keep the wound from ever healing properly.

He straightens her clothing as much as he's able, though the torn panties are a completely lost cause. When they exit from the changing room- gods forget it, he'll just buy the whole armful of clothes- there's a hastily scrawled note in the Tailor's handwriting waiting for them on the front desk.

 _Lord Ren, I met your Knights in the market. They request you join them in the long house shortly so they can properly meet your guest_.

The 'guest' had been underlined by the old man. He must have returned to his shop when Kylo was engaged in activities, though luckily there isn't a strickened corpse sprawled across the floor as well.

Kylo opens up the Tailor's billpad and writes down an amount that should be almost twice the value of all the purchases made and requested. He signs it at the bottom ' _thank you for your discretion'_.

Hopefully that will be enough to buy his silence, though Kylo doubts it.

Then Kylo places the chosen garments into a cloth sack, throws it over his shoulder, and joins his now happily skipping about mermaid outside.

Time to formally introduce her to the rest of the Knights. Hopefully this meeting will go better than their first encounter together.

* * *

Author's note:

Second half of yesterday's update! Next one will be soon I think and it will be a shorter chapter with Rey and the Knights sorting through their differences before the big expedition.

* * *

Comment replies:

Coesa Rudo – I'm glad you liked this chapter! The plot is coming along nicely. Now we've finally got a clue about what's been going on with Rey, though still not about the whole mystery with the angry mermaids and the heart trafficking. More to come, though! All will be revealed in time!

Thanks for commenting, too!

White Demon Feathers – Sorry, I've had to drop the periods out of your name because FFN was being obnoxious about not displaying them correctly (I so wish this site would update it's technology just a little, it's terribly outdated). ANYHOW, Rey learning the language? Right now I'm not completely decided. She's got that Little Mermaid thing where she can't speak and I think it adds something different to the story. Maybe later near the end though? Maybe maybe! Not sure! Kylo is… well, he's Kylo. He's clueless with the ladies. His girl just wanted a cuddle, but then of course his Knights and Maz were right there so… Well he certainly made up for it with this next chapter, lol

thanks so much for commenting!


	23. Welcome to the Family

Rey had thrown a tantrum in the longhouse.

At first it had been alright. Bright-eyed and rosy cheeked they had come into the great communal building. Rey had insisted on clinging to Kylo's arm, earning him disapproving scowls from the predictable two of his Knights. They were still waiting on the others from the far side of the island to come so Kylo had taken her into one of the back rooms to keep her out of trouble while he packed up his own personal items into a trunk.

That action had apparently been very triggering to his mermaid. She had watched in curious silence as he began to fold and stuff his clothes. Then he had started to secure his array of weapons, making sure they were all properly oiled against the sea weather, when she must have abruptly put the pieces together: _h_ _e was leaving_.

He was leaving, and she didn't realize she was coming with him. The beginning stage of her tantrum had begun with her throwing things.

First had been his clothes. She had grabbed them and hurled, scattering them around the room. Then, when he had tried to stop her, she had started ripping at them.

"Stop!"

Kylo had put some of the Force into the command. Enough to stun her before his second shirt could become her next victim. He was sure the nearby Knights would have felt the pulse of it, but none of them dare to come back here to investigate or intervene.

"Rey, what in the gods has come over you?!"

He squeezed her wrists, trying to restrain her flailing limbs as she hissed at him with damp eyes. Then she kneed him between the legs and shoved him off. Next target was his weapons, and she started to hurl those behind her with angry force.

Then she had started to lunge toward the lit candelabra and it had taken Kylo wrapping his angry girl into a bear hug from behind to stop her stampede.

"Rey! Please! Control yourself!"

She stomps on his foot. Kylo rolls his eyes. Had he not been wearing his boots that may have been more effective, but now she reminds him terribly of an ornery child throwing a fit.

He squeezes her tighter, holding on strong until she begins to tire herself out.

"Rey, you're coming with me."

He meant it as soothing, but instead it comes out as rather strangled. He can feel her emotions radiating off of her. He's hurt her feelings. Or maybe more than that, because she starts to cry, snuffling with ugly, choked noises even as his grip loosens so he can stroke her arms.

"Rey."

He lets her go and she slides down, sobbing softly. When he takes a step backwards she grabs onto his thigh and clings, wrapping herself tightly around it in a clear announcement of _I'm not letting you go anywhere._

Kylo sighs, grateful to his men for giving them privacy to attend to this despite the turbulent emotions they must surely be feeling.

What to do with her, though? If he could only speak to her this trouble could have been resolved before it even began.

"I'll just have to be creative with you then, won't I?"

Kylo lightly pats the top of her head, unsure if she's about to snap at him or not.

Rey huffs, her sobs ebbing but present. She rubs her face against his hand, wiping her snotty nose off on it.

"Unnecessary."

He catches her chin. Rey pouts, her teeth closing around his thumb and biting down then holding.

"I wish… I wish I could know what you're thinking to show you how wrong you are about all this. Did you really think I would leave without you?"

Kark, he's doing this _for_ her. Maybe not all of it. Ostensibly, the need of protecting the island comes as the highest duty. But the fact that finding out the truth of Rey ties in neatly with this chosen duty offers Kylo a perfect excuse to indulge his inner need for chivalry.

"Here, look," he picks up one of the dresses he'd bought from the tailor. "Do you see this?"

Rey reaches out for it. Then wipes her face on the hem. Kylo clears his throat.

Yes, well- just watch me, will you?"

He starts to fold her dress. Fold it rather sloppily, unlike his usual precision, but it wasn't an easy task with a fitful half-mermaid clinging to his leg and slowly crawling her way up his body to see what he's doing.

Kylo loops one arm around her waist and hauls her with him over to the disarrayed trunk. With excessive fanfare he places her dress inside and slaps the sides of it to hopefully ensure that she catches the message.

Rey blinks, her eyes perhaps still blurry with tears. Then she points at her chest and Kylo leans down and kisses her forehead.

Her arms wrap around his neck, and she all but dangles herself as he folds and places another of her garments. It's only when he pointedly hands her the next piece does she remove herself from him to halfheartedly fold it- then wad it- into a corner of the trunk.

"Clever girl," he comments, tucking a lock of loose hair behind her ear.

Rey gives him a sulky, sidelong glare. Still upset with him though hr erratic swings of temperament ensure that the voyage ahead will never become dull.

An odd, alarming thought pops into his head then as he watches Rey scuttle about picking up all the items of both his and hers she had just thrown aside.

What if… No. Surely not. Rey surely would not aim for carnal indulgences when they were on the ship together. Right? Surely?

The Knights were all closely connected with each other. It would be impossible to mask such occurrences and, as such, it was an unspoken rule between all of them: _keep such activities to a distance._ Not even the twins for all the licentiousness would skip this manner of decency, opting instead to take their warm bedmate of the day or hour off to somewhere out of the line of shared thought.

"Just what are you planning- oh be careful, M'lady, you don't want to hurt yourself."

She was clumsily shoving things about in the trunk, but now she's taken out his saber and is playing with it, twirling it around in her hands and gripping it by the blade instead of the handle. He wasn't going to keep it in the trunk, certainly not, but now even having it laying out seems to invoke an almost childish fascination within the girl.

After a few more careless squishes through the air Kylo can't stand it. He coughs, gently taking the sword away from the wide-eyed girl. Then he flips it over, and wraps her palm around the handle with his own.

"Here, this is the basic swing. It all starts with a good fighting stance."

He steps behind her nudging her feet wider with his own. Then he shows her a few basic moves which she seems to pick up quickly though his lesson is rather hampered by her inability to stop giggling every time he has to adjust her posture with a firm grab.

After a few minutes a polite and almost shy knock on the door interrupts them as Ria calls them into the main room.

* * *

"So how much of what's happening does your young and silent lover really understand?"

It was a rare thing for any of Kylo's Knights to take such a challenging tone to their leader, let alone coming from Taleisin. The second youngest of them, however, seemed to have the greatest chip on his shoulder regarding Rey's formal introduction to the Knights. Perhaps even a greater antagonism than Ria who perhaps had some degree of cause to distrust her given their last few encounters with each other.

"Her mind is a mystery to me as I'm sure it is to you," Kylo says in measured tones. "But I believe she understands the principles well enough."

"Enough for what?" Aemon asks, leaning back and resting his boots up on the table. "What exactly? I had assumed this would be a straight forward meeting regarding our split, but the way you have brought her to use seems rather… formal."

Officially there was no ranking within the Knights, though it was widely understood that Aemon was to lead the remaining Knights during Kylo and the other's absence overseas.

"Is she to join us then?" Mayenne, their other female Knight asks. "Not just on our journey but- but to become the fourteenth Knight?"

Kylo immediately shakes his head, shooting down the notion before it could spread like wildfire. Rey's hand lightly touches his own and he withdraws it, placing it palm down on the tabletop.

"No, not in that capacity. M'La- Miss Rey will be our guest and our assistant at times. She will likely fight be our side if need be, but she will not take the Oath."

"Because she can't."

Taleisin holds Kylo's gaze for a long moment before dropping his chin and regarding his untouched dinner. Next to him is a very confused Silas, another Knight coming on the mission with them, and he's yet to speak though he regards Rey with a look of open uncertainty.

Rey, for her part, squirms a little closer next to Kylo, now half out of her chair and onto his own. He stretches his arm down stiffly, catching the back leg of the tall stool and holding it firmly to create a physical barricade between them.

"So she can't speak, and she can't be read," Aemon says. "Likely sh can't understand when you speak to her, either. Leader, far be it for me to question you-"

"A refreshing change, and one much appreciated Aemon."

Aemon hesitates, taking in Kylo's praise with a puzzled expression. Sitting next to the tall Knight is the even taller Ria who had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout the whole interaction.

"Er, yes," Aemon continues. "What I mean to say is that, given all this young girl's confusion and unique nature, perhaps she's a great liability to an already greatly perilous mission? Wouldn't it bet better to leave her behind for those of us who remain to watch over?"

Kylo looks down at Rey. She'd been curling up tight around herself, clearly aware how greatly she was outnumbered now that the full rankings of the Knights were present, but her head picks up when she notices him giving her attention. He immediately frowns and looks away, dodging her second attempt to grab onto his wrist.

"No, Master Aemon. Maz believes- and I agree with her on this, that Rey here is somehow involved right in the center of both the troubles we've been having on the Island and the erratically violent behavior of the merfolk. Our best chance of finding the answer to both lies with taking her to the Sages and hearing what they have to say."

Rey yips. It's a soft but high-pitched noise, and when Kylo looks at her she smiles up again. He sighs and squares his shoulders.

"Sir," Ria finally breaks her silence. "She's a half-mermaid. Such an impossibility shouldn't exist, let alone share quarters with us at times when our guard is down."

Kylo huffs, brushing aside Rey's hand as she starts to tug on his shirt.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of her, Ria? M'Lady's nearly half your size. And I have been sharing my tower with her for these last days and I can assure you that she's-"

Kylo's voice trails off as he thinks back. The attempted toe-feasting. All the kicking and biting and snapping of their early days. The _beheadings_.

He chooses his next words very carefully.

"I… I believe we are past the time of concerns regarding her behavior to us. In the beginning yes, I had conflicts with her, but that has changed completely in the time that's passed."

"Since she became your lover?"

Taleisin's dinner and his icy expression both remain unchanged from when the evening began. At the far end of the table both the twins bark out into a loud fit of laughter, causing Rey to stiffen by his side and lean in all the closer.

"Talesin, mind your-"

"How old is she? Do you not even know?"

His question, though impudent, gives Kylo pause. He regards Rey who is now on the verge of edging him right out of his own sat with her clinginess. She looks young, he'll admit.

"Old enough to take care of herself and be a valuable ally, Brother," Kylo tells him. "All you are all to remember this. If you have any troubles with her, taking them up with me and only me."

Another yip comes from Rey and this time she punches her arm as he pushes her back toward her own stool. She growls, her eyes narrowing, and the entire table falls silent as they watch on.

"M'Lady," Kylo warns.

He starts to rise to, if necessary, pick her up and correct her proximity himself. She slaps at him, aiming straight for the still raw bite mark hidden under the shoulder of his coat.

"Rey-"

"Oh for the love of the Gods, Master!" Taleisin interrupts. "Just hold her! She clearly wants you to!"

Kylo snaps his attention between his troublesome Knight and the even more troublesome and fitful half-mermaid he's currently wrestling with. A hushed round of laughter breaks out amongst more than just the twins at the sight.

"You… called her M'lady," Ria says quietly. There's a faint hint of a smile on her lips.

"Gods have mercy," Kylo grumbles.

It's just easier to give in, isn't it? He sighs again, dropping his arms and letting Rey cleave herself to his chest. Then he uses the Force to drag her stool right next to his so they both can sit tightly together.

"Er… right." Mayenne looks down at the chart in front of her. "Shall I give her her own bunk on the ship then or..."

She gestures through the air at them and Kylo shakes his head. Rey immediately settles down, now resting her chin against his arm.

"Yes. Her own bunk. Ideally her own room, though I'm sure it will be very small. She gets fitful around people she doesn't know, and most of you are strangers still."

Mayenne makes a face, drawing her lips tightly together to control what was most likely a highly amused grin.

Kylo nods, clearing his throat again before changing the conversation to the rest of the business at hand. They were to leave tomorrow at noon after the morning fog had cleared. Six of the Knights would stay behind and be lead by Aemon while Taleisin, Ria, the twins, Mayenne and Silas would set sail with him. If the journey went well it should take less than a month to return, though Kylo had a sinking feeling in his gut that the waters they would encounter would offer anything but smooth sailing.

* * *

Rey had ran away after dinner.

She had eaten the best of four plates all herself before passing out in an overfull comatic state against Kylo's shoulder. The evening had worn on then, filled wit much discussion of what to do should certain events happen in Kylo and the six Knight's absence. Then, around midnight, Rey had gotten up and quietly slipped out. Kylo had assumed she had simply been going to relieve herself- hopefully she knew the correct location to do so in the village's longhouse- but she hadn't come back.

An hour past midnight and Kylo drew the meeting to a close and wished the Knights a good rest to prepare for the start of their journey tomorrow. Normally he would sleep with them in the longhouse before such a mission, but he had a rather clear guess where he could find his missing mermaid.

Unsurprisingly the lights were on when returned to the watchtower.

Not only the candles were lit but Rey had started a fire, too. She'd left the door open, the room filled with excessive heat and the flames drawing high in the confines of the stove.

Kylo attends to it, correcting the door and the damper, but it's only a few moments before his presence is noted.

Rey bounds in from behind him. Her dress is damp, the hem of it approaching soggy, and there's a dead and crudely filleted fish in her hands.

"Nighttime fishing, M'Lady? Surely you can't still be hungry after all your _four_ dinners tonight?"

Rey grins, shouldering him aside to lay her catch out on the griddle top to the stove. It's close to how she'd seen him do it when he cooked, and Kylo can't help but find some of her enthusiasm begin to wear off on him despite the late hour.

He reaches out, lightly touching her shoulder and pretending to correct her disarrayed clothing.

"My Lady, do you know that we're leaving tomorrow? Do you understand that?"

It's a mixed feeling of melancholy to think that this might be their last night here. For a while. He has no idea what their trip to the Island would bring. There was a possibility, a very very slight one, that Rey wouldn't be able to return back with them.

He quickly brushes that thought from his mind, opting instead to be bold and embrace his mermaid from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist as she fusses over the rapidly cooking fish dinner.

Rey giggles. She looks up at him from over her shoulder with mischievous eyes and Kylo sighs before giving her a quick and chaste kiss. Then she grinds her backside against his frontside and he steps back, letting go of her in favor of drabbing a plate and utensils.

"M'Lady, it's far too late in the night for _that_ kind of conduct. Come, let's have a midnight snack together then I'll set you off to bed."

Dinner was a sleepy and informal affair. Rey sat in his lap and, unlike when the judgmental scowls of his Knights were upon them, this time Kylo is content to let her linger on him. He took a few bites of the fish she fed to him with her oddly black-stained fingertips, though the pressing need for sleep had ended most of his appetite.

Afterwards, Rey bounds up off him. She grabs him by the hand and starts to drag him up the long flight of stairs to her watchtower room.

"You truly have endless energy, don't you?"

Was it because she was a half-mermaid? Maz had been able to offer him only a scant few answers regarding her nature. She didn't mind cold water, she apparently was an expert swimmer, and the fact that she couldn't talk was apparently quite the oddity.

And oddity just as her room had become. Last time Kylo had seen it, it had been messily decorated with fingerpaintings courtesy of his half-aquatic guest. Now there was artwork everywhere, papers strewn about and ink spilled across the tabletop.

"Ah, that explains the stains on your fingers then. But what's this?"

A burlap sack- the kind he would use to store potatoes in- is laying on her bed and a number of angular items are sticking out from it. While he goes to inspect it, Rey bounds about, picking up some of her artwork and crushing them to her chest as she carries them.

Food and more papers. That's what's in the bag. Oh, and ink though this time it's not spilled. Kylo flips through the items, noting that many of the pages are blank. Then something pricks his fingers rather deeply, and he withdraws his hand to look deeper.

"Ah. Your headcutter. I shouldn't have guessed that you'd willingly leave that behind. This is your bag that you're taking with us, is it?"

Rey's all wide, toothy grin as she takes the bag from him and clumsily shoves her armful of paintings inside. Kylo hums, watching her before taking over and pulling everything out to straighten them and fold them nicely. Her artwork is honestly quite impressive. Many of them must have bee drawn with her fingers, though it seems she'd found his brush set as well and had just started experimenting with them for finer details.

Then a particularly _unique_ image stops him. Kylo gaps at it, blinking rapidly.

Rey giggles joyfully when she sees what he's looking at. She snatches it away from him and holds it up image-side out for him to see all the better.

It's a portrait of him. One of many, for he and the ocean waves both seem to play nearly equal roles as her choice of muse. The thing about this picture, however, was that he was naked in it. Naked and boasting a girthily flattering though physically impossible erection that he just so happens to be gripping with both hands.

"Oh gods."

There's no other words for it. Kylo feels him cheeks flaming, and he has to take a steadying breath to control the urge to turn heel and flee until his mortification wears down.

Rey apparently takes his stunned reaction as a positive, however. She giggles again, the sound of it lilting with musicality, and points at the picture. Points at _that_ part of the picture, the tip of her index finger running across the length of it with enthusiasm.

Kylo stops her then. He forces a feigned smile, taking the picture from her while not daring to look at it in any more detail.

"How wonderful," he manages to say. "Let's just put this treasure away somewhere safe. Out of sight. We wouldn't want it to get damaged in our absence would w- Oh, you're taking it with you. I see."

Rey places it in the spot of honor on top of her now neatly stacked pile of artwork. She wraps it up in a cloth- one of his cowls, he notes- and Kylo holds open the sack for her to place it inside. The headcutter runs risk of splitting the bag clean open so he dips downstairs for a moment to secure a length of leather bindings for it.

When he returns, Rey is laying on her bed, her head propped up on her palm. She pats a spot next to herself for him to sit.

It's very late or very early now. Sleep was once a luxury he enjoyed on occasion before his mermaid entered his life. She may have boundless energy, but even she yawns when hew gives in and begins to unlace his boots and take his outer robes off. He lays down with a weary exhalation, and Rey immediately tucks herself right into his side and lays her head on his chest.

"You shouldn't sleep in your clothes," he tells her.

Rey's eyes drift close but there's a content smile on her lips. It's a rather moot point since he forgot to order her any nightgown or such, not that she was likely to wear it anyhow.

When he blows out the last candle sleep claims him almost immediately.

* * *

They make love as dawn starts to warm up the crest of the horizon.

It hadn't been Kylo's intention. He was still profoundly tired and they had already engaged in such activities less than twenty-four hours before. However, Rey had woken him up with her squirming as she moved over him to look out the window at the rising sun. He got the impression she often woke around this time, perhaps explaining many of her earlier absences.

But with all her close, wriggling proximity a certain situation had happened. One that had caused her to first squeal then pounce upon him when she noticed. She'd began with pinning him and attacking her lips with her usual vigorous spirits, though this time Kylo had opted to take over the lead in their encounter.

It was his turn to have her under him, and the beginning had been more of a wrestling match than a gentle, sensual undressing. He had eventually gotten his way though, Rey finally giving in when he'd gotten her fully undressed and began to rain kisses down the length o her body.

The coupling that had followed was a tangled mess of entwined limbs, sloppy kisses, and building pace. Neither of them had taken particularly long to finish, and afterwards Kylo had let her rest another two finger's length of sunrise.

The final preparations to his tower were straightforward. Ensure any perishable food was secured away. The Knights remaining on the Island would periodically visit this tower as part of their patrols so he knew nothing would go to waste. Then put out the fire completely, draw the shutters closed along all the windows, and make sure that absolutely none of his guest's more implicating artwork was out in the open. The ocean pictures he left though, feeling keenly proud of them even though he hadn't drawn them himself.

The final step was securing the front door and then placing Rey's bag of items across the rear of his horse's saddle.

She walked at a distance next to them as he rode slowly into town. Too close and her presence seemed to unnerve his horse, not that he could blame it given her clear proclivity to eating everything in sight.

When they reached the hill before the bend in the rode Kylo paused to give the watchtower one last look. Then he shook the reigns lightly, urging his steed to pick up the pace and match the half-mermaid girl who had already bounded well ahead of them on their way into town.

* * *

Author's Note:

Last day before the big anchor's away!

Spoilers? Well there might just be a little bit of drama on the high seas before they reach the Isla Los Sabos. Just a touch ;)

And a friendly reminder that you can find out a little more about the Knights at the ending notes for Chapter 16!


	24. Have Headcutter, Will Play

author note:

Just a rambly chapter with a little bit of cuddles and a lot of world building. Hope ya'll like it! :)

* * *

To say that Rey had been excited to set sail had been an understatement.

He had ushered her onto their ship, the Falcon, with a quick pace. It was his hope to get his lady tucked into her little cabin before she could find any of the trouble no doubt to be had. Rey had seemed confused at the small, closet-sized space at first. Then she'd broken into a wide grin when he'd begun to unpack her meager personal items.

Okay, good. She got the idea. And he left her like that, arranging her clothes and drawing supplies to her heart's pleasure while he went above onto the deck as they set sail.

Most of the town had come to bid them good journeys and see them off. The remaining Knights were already at their posts stationed about the four corners of the Island. Without them though the crowd still seemed ample. Well over a hundred hands waving in the air, though Kylo knew with a certainty some of them were glad to be rid of them.

It hadn't taken long for Rey to pop up, bounding over to his side and shoving an absolutely baffled Silas out of the way. Her fingers were black and her nose was dotted with ink in a way that was just too cute for Kylo not to delicately swipe off.

"Painting already, M'Lady? Truly you must have felt inspired by our departure."

Rey grinned widely and leaned over, throwing nearly half her whole body across the edge of the railing as she looked down at the waves crashing against their prow.

"Sir?" Silas asks. "I thought she didn't speak?"

Kylo hesitates for a moment. He had gotten so used to it being used him and Rey wrapped up in their own little world. It felt odd and wholly inappropriate to let anyone else in.

"She listens," he explains, "now go check the top sail lines. Ria had said they were old and tended to get stuck."

Silas frowns, almost but not quite grumbling under his breath and being sent off on an odd task now when they were taking center stage with their departure. He leaves with a clipped gait and Rey yips, drawing Kylo's attention back.

Now she's waving back at the crowd enthusiastically, her whole upper body swaying with the movements of her arm. Kylo wonders if she has any idea _why_ she'd doing that, or was simply mimicking the movements of most of the people around her.

"Now if only I could get you to wear shoes and use spoons and forks I could make a fine human lady out o you yet."

He gives her a quick, almost imperceptible squeeze to her shoulders and Rey looks up, clearly expecting her normal kiss to the forehead. Not in front of everyone, certainly not. He can already feel some of the side-eyes from his on-board knights as it is.

"Look," he points, "there's our watchtower. I expect we won't see it again for quite some time."

Rey turns and starts climbing up the central mast to a midpoint where she can see better. Kylo watches her for a moment with a sense of foreboding before returning to his task of looking grim-faced and stoic in front of the now distant crowds.

"She's really good at climbing, isn't she Sir?" Ria comments as she joins him.

Kylo flashes back on those first few days when he'd met her. She couldn't even stand at first. Instead, she'd pitifully drag herself across the floor, even literally through glass, to get away from him.

Then had come this morning. They had been a messy tangle of limbs and lips under the rising sun. It didn't even take them very long to get to that point, did it?

"She certainly seems to be, Ria, but let's all keep a watch on her. She may not know her limitations yet."

The Knight turns her head to regard him. Her face is mostly hidden by her mask, making it impossible to judge her expression.

Kylo simply nods then, taking his leave, and heads downstairs to see to setting up his own quarters.

* * *

The day was unseasonably calm and warm. The sun shone brightly, the Knights were in good spirits, and yet Kylo couldn't shake a cloud of gloom that had settled into his mind since their departure.

He should feel at ease. They were finally on their way. The journey ahead would no doubt be challenging, but also hopefully bring some much needed answers.

There wouldn't be many more pleasant days like this. Not this time of year and in these harsh waters. Kylo should be out with his men on the deck, enjoying the simple pleasure of sunlight while it lasted.

Despite this, Kylo chose to bury himself in research. Standing idly was never a trait he carried well, and the need to do something productive was greater than any nonexistent desire to sunbathe or "relax". This wasn't a vacation. Far from it. He and Rey and all of the Knights would need to be ready for anything once they reached the Western Station. One day off, perhaps, but soon he'll put them to work training and honing their abilities. They would have to learn to work together as a united front, though at this point Kylo was unsure what role Rey would have within that scheme.

Down in his cabin, Kylo closes the tome before him shut and draws out another one. He'd taken several of his books that he thought might be useful with him from the watchtower. Many were sailing charts, and a few with bits and pieces of history. The deeper he researched, the more he looked between the lines, it seemed like relations between humans and merfolk were very rare. Rare, but not unheard of.

One of the books that Maz had given him was a very old and battered tome with no title upon it. It was a collection of sailor's recounts dating back likely for several generations. Judging by the locations and terms used, it must have been from the Winterton side before the war.

Most of the entires didn't interest him. Complaints or boasts or recounts of what dead sailor owed what to whom else. There was one story that caught his attention, however. It was told in mismatched pieces as a series of diary entires, of which many of the middle seemed to be missing, was a tale of a sailor who had seen a naked, beautiful woman beckoning him into the water.

That part had caught Kylo's eye immediately. The story was not unlike when the pack of mermaids had lured and then attacked Kylo himself shortly after Rey's arrival.

Except this diary story was different. Here the sailor claimed the naked woman had swam up to him but she wasn't a woman at all. Her tail should have terrified him, but the sailor said that an odd calm had overwhelmed all reason. The merwoman didn't speak, not even once, but she had touched him.

And then she had disappeared. One touch and she was gone.

The next diary entry had been largely the sailor trying to convince himself that it had all been a dream or in his head.

Two weeks later she had returned. This time the waters around her had been choppy but it was a calm day. It was almost as if there were many more of her kind around them.

Another touch and she had pushed him back, shoving him back to shore even when he tried to stay out with her.

The third entry was dated months later. It was a poor season and the sailor had foolishly gone out into the deep waters in search of much needed food.

He claimed that, while he was out there, he heard a voice _singing_. He had lost his mind completely then, or so the diary claimed, and had felt compelled to go out even deeper into the dangerous open waters. There he had suddenly been surrounded. A pack of vicious mermaid had encircled his small fishing craft, pushing at it with their hands and tails and trying to break it in half.

Then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they fled. The waters had grown still and silent until that same mermaid from before had come to him. She had swam right up to the edge of his boat and half lifted herself onto it. According to the sailor, she beckoned to him. She wasn't acting like the others at all.

And apparently she was very beautiful indeed. She hadn't tried to hurt him, not even when he reached out to touch her face.

Kylo skimmed over the next part of the diary which was a rather lurid depiction of what had happened next. The short version was that the foolhardy sailor had gone into the water with her and… and a union had been made. Afterwards she had swam next to him, guiding his boat back into the shallow waters and kept her own kind away until he was safely back on land.

The journal entry ended with an open plea to the gods that he may see her again one day.

Kylo closed the book then and started to pace. He had been given the largest quarters on the ship, though it was tiny still for a man of his stature. He could easily cross from one length to the other in just a few steps, and on his third round a familiar head pops itself into his doorway to watch him.

"Hello, M'Lady."

She grins and he turns from her, going back to the book to see if there was any other entries beyond that last.

Two lean, tanned arms creep into view. Silently, completely silently, Rey embraces him from behind. Kylo raises an eyebrow, holding still for her.

Something pinches against his shoulder. She _bit_ him, he realizes, and when he turns around her expression is one of pure mischief.

"My lady," he shakes a chiding finger at her and she snaps at that too, "may I ask how you found my room?"

He hadn't shown its location to her yet, opting instead to see how long it would take her to find it on her own. Rey simply smiles, her hands now running up and down his chest.

Oh. No.

Kylo quickly catches the roving appendages and draws them down to her sides.

"M'Lady, I'm afraid _that's_ completely out of the question. Not until we're on solid land and-" Rey bites her lower lip, distracting his line of thought for a moment- "and… no… not now. Not possible."

Marriage technically should also follow along with the plan, though Kylo supposes they will have to wait for that technicality until they return to the Island. And he's figured out a way to explain the concept to her. And how to break it to his men.

Rey wriggles one of her hands free, grabs the front of his pants, and gives her fingers a mischievous flutter. The offer is not without temptation, but he _really_ can't. His men are already reluctant enough with the girl and no doubt her propensity for hissing, howling orgasms would do little to improve their relations.

Kylo literally pulls himself away when the fluttering becomes a firmer pulse. Rey pouts then, annoyance flickering in her eyes and that's often a sign that she's about to act up.

"You have too much energy," he says quickly, stepping back and out of reach. "I think I have a cure for that. An _appropriate_ cure. Bring your weapon and meet me upstairs on deck."

His private cabin was in the middle section of the ship, while hers was a re-purposed storeroom at the bottom level. Their distance from each other was one of necessity, not intention, on such a small vessel, but Kylo assumed her adjacency to the pantry would help make amends.

Wrestling out of Rey's arms is a slightly strategic movement. He needs to be firm with her, to show her that yes, she has to accept his boundaries. But oh how his girl likes to claw at him, especially when she must figure out he's trying to leave.

"Your weapon," Kylo presses an image of her headcutter into her mind, "bring it upstairs."

Oh she'll figure it out. She flops on his bed, her pout extending to now almost childish dimensions, and Kylo quickly hurries away.

When he gets to the deck the sun is high in the sky and the ocean calm. There's a mild wind pushing at their sails, and several of the Knights have gathered into the main central area and are practicing sparring.

"It's a fine day," Ria says, joining him at he sidelines.

Kylo nods, eying the hatch to the lower decks. No girl. The two women didn't seem to like each other very much.

"If this weather holds it will put us behind," he says. "We need wind."

"It won't. It can't. Pity that Aemon isn't here with us, he could have helped smooth the journey."

All of the Knight's Force abilities manifested in slightly different ways. Aemon with his unique affinity for judging and changing the weather would have been a very useful additional to a long sea voyage, but h was needed more at the Island.

Kylo draws a sparring sword from the pile of weapons on the table and begins to practice a few forms. He hadn't done this in quite some time, actually. Rey had proved to be a very compelling distraction from his usual work-centric routine before their paths had crossed.

"Leader?" Ria looks over the edge of the railing she'd been leaning against and frowns. "I do believe there's a half naked girl scaling the sides of our ship."

Kylo pauses, his sword mid-sweep against the cloth legs of a practice dummy. Surely _not_?

A tanned hand extends into view, clawing its way along the top of the railing. Ria looks back at him with a significant expression and Kylo rubs his temples, the start of a headache forming despite the pleasantness of the day.

"Should I help her?" Ria asks.

The grip has apparently been found, and another hand appears. This one is holding the crude garden implement that had seen more than its share of bloodshed. A loud growl emerges next, the sound angry in its warning o Ria's extended hand. She steps back then, shaking her head and not try to hide her thoughts of _what kind of feral animal have we let on board?_

The other Knights stop sparring then to watch as Rey, naked from the waist down, bounds over the railing from he outside. The motion requires her to throw a leg up first, resulting in a moderate disruption of shock as they're all treated to a highly candid view.

" _Dear gods M'Lady."_

Kylo grabs his cloak that he'd discarded when he began his forms, but Rey petulantly throws it aside. She's still wearing her curaisse, but that's about it.

"Kylo, Sir-"

"I know."

He waves Ria back. Rey glares at the other woman, her hackles rising at their proximity to each other. Ria's not wrong in her concern, but that doesn't change the necessity of a careful approach.

"M'Lady, do you not know that we have stairs?"

He glances over the edge of the ship that she'd just scaled and gods be damned if he doesn't feel a touch of vertigo. It was very steep.

"Mayenne, please go down below and find Miss Rey some suitable garment to wear for sparring."

Mayenne was the other female Knight. Her proportions were much more similar to Rey than Ria's, as well as her preferences in attire. Rare indeed was the day that Kylo saw Ria out of full armor even just for walking about town.

"Sparring?" Ria asks, stepping forward and pointedly ignoring the loud hiss emanating from the guest.

When Rey doesn't succeed in scaring her off this time she stomps away, crossing her arms petulantly. She stops though when she sees how the other Knights have gathered, forming a loose circle around them to watch the spectacle unfold. Their expressions tell a story of shock or amusement or more shock, and Kylo mutters a plea under his breath before draping his cloak back around Rey's shoulders.

"Sir, I have a question."

Gareth, the more highly amused of the twins, steps forward. Kylo braces himself, then nods.

"Is the reason you brought your _guest_ with us not just to unveil the mystery of the halfling and the mermaid hearts and all that goodness, but really to keep her from flashing her muff at the entire village?"

Behind him his twin snorts, hiding the movement within a fake cough.

"You overstep yourself, Gareth," Kylo warns. "Keep your respects or I'll send _you_ into the sparring ring with her next."

He quickly takes the offered garment from Mayenne. A pair of loose, half-legged trousers that Kylo had commissioned for Rey yesterday. She must have gone into Rey's room to get them rather than sacrificing any of her own, not that Kylo could blame her. As much as he would like his guest to remain properly clothed throughout the journey, at this rate she would have tossed her whole wardrobe overboard and be skint by the time they reach the Western Station.

"M'Lady, if you could-"

He bends down to reach for one of her ankles and Rey giggles. Bizarrely she snatches the pants from him and flops flat on her back on the deck, tossing his cloak aside and nearly over before Ria catches it for him with a tendril of the Force.

Then Rey kicks about, thrashing her legs in the air as she clumsily drags one pant leg up, then the other, and finally gives the deck a few good thumps with her butt as she drags it up and over.

More or less properly dressed now, Rey waves her hands in the air and grins as if to say ' _I did it!'_

Throughout the spectacle th Knights watch in increasingly heightened silence. More than once Kylo can feel a subtle pulse against his psyche as one or the other of them do a wellness check on their leader's mental state.

"Er-" Kylo offers her a hand up but Rey leaps to her feet herself.

She picks up her discarded headcutter and sweeps it blindingly fast through the air a few times, more often then not in the direction of a highly unimpressed Ria.

Kylo clears his throat before addressing them.

"Go back to your practice, men. M'l- Miss Rey will start her training with me first. It's essential that she knows how to master her _chosen weapon_ , though in time I would like for all of you to train with her as well."

"Oh won't that be fun. An excellent idea, Sir. I hope Talisin's healing abilities will be up to the challenge."

He gives Ria a sidelong glare, dismissing her with a roll of his shoulder. Again, she wasn't wrong, but then neither was he.

"Alright, M'Lady. Let's start at the beginning."

He draws out his practice sword. His blade is dulled from practice, her's isn't. Rey eyes him sidelong before a light smile pricks at her lips and she matches his stance with a low crouch of her own.

 _She does know this is just for practice, right?_ One of the twins calls from behind him. Before Kylo has time to think, Rey pounces.

* * *

His plan had been painful at times, but effective.

The twin's question had been answered quickly: yes, Rey did seem to know they were just sparring. From the glints he'd catch of her mind, he term she was using was more akin to _playing_ , but close enough. However, that didn't mean she held herself back especially much.

By the time they were finished, Kylo's shirt was a tattered mess and his arms and chest had a criss cross of little nicks and wounds from her cutter. He had actually gone to Taleisin for a quick Force healing treatment afterwards, and was met with a deadpan 'Of course, Sir, but perhaps a thicker gauge of armor next time?'

Rey had that sort of wild, raw talent in combat that Kylo was expecting. Her moves were lightning fast, but driven by instinct. That meant she telegraphed them. If they had been fighting a keen enemy, that would have put her at a distinct disadvantage.

Kylo had spent most of their extended afternoon session teaching her forms. The classic postures had to be adapted to work with her short-handled but highly deadly weapon. As they practiced Kylo kept a mental list running of the way her body would move in her garments. The lightly padded curaisse he had selected for her was a start, but in time she would need her would custom fitted armor designed specially for her own unique fighting style. That would likely have to wait until they were back at the Island, unfortunately.

Kylo's plan had been both to teach the girl the basics of proper combat, as well as to wear her out. He had succeeded in both, though he was quite tired himself by the time dinner came around.

Jared, the second twin, had appointed himself the Falcon's unofficial chef. This had been accompanied with some sort of bawdy statement about how he'd learned to cook because the 'best way between a woman's thighs was by keeping her mouth full at all times'. Gareth had given a raucous laugh, Ria and Taleisin their best stone-faced disapproval, and Rey had dived all but nearly head-first into the large pot of soup laid before them.

Kylo had to hold her back, literally, and made a mental note that a lesson in proper table manners would be her next challenge.

"There was artwork on her walls," Mayenne comments between spoonfuls. "Did she make them?"

Kylo blinks. Then freezes, his heart momentarily jerking spastic in his chest. That was met with a few curious pulses through the Force before he shuts his mind closed to visitors.

"Er, the paintings of the sea and my tower? Yes, she seems to be quite good at those. And- any piece in particular that caught your eye?"

Mayenne raises an eyebrow. His tone had been very tense.

"There was one which very much appeared to be of a severed head on a candlestick. It seemed a little out of place with the rest."

Ah, right. Kylo had almost forgotten that little gem of a moment. The first time Rey's headcutter had earned its title.

"Must have been from a dream," he comments with a shrug.

Rey slurps loudly from her bowl, finishing off her second portion, and Kylo quickly ladles more soup into into before she just dips the whole thing into the shared pot.

"Miracle she hasn't gotten fat yet," Jared comments, "appetite like that."

Another round of laughter from his other half and Kylo rolls his eyes, directing the dinnertime conversation to the journey ahead.

* * *

Rey had fallen asleep in his arms.

Four bowls of soup down and a day full of _playing_ had taken its toll on her. She had cuddled up against during after-dinner drinks and had resolutely crawled into his lap to curl herself about him. The Knights kept whatever comments they had to themselves, but Kylo could see the questions lurking in their eyes.

He'd taken her back to her little room sometime past midnight. Normally being on a mission like this would have a much more regimented schedule, but the good weather and easy departure had put them all at ease. There would be plenty of tense nights to come, no doubt, but one night off should be allowable.

Her room was tinier than he'd expected. Basically just space for a hard wooden cot and little else. Her small amount of clothing was messily shoved underneath along with her painting supplies.

And the walls were decorated with her artwork, just like Maynne had said. After setting Rey down and tucking her in, Kylo does a frantic sweep to make sure that a _certain_ portrait of him was not on display. Mercifully no, and aside from the severed head his mermaid's gallery seemed innocent enough, if not somewhat eccentric.

"Goodnight," he says quietly, giving her forehead a featherlight kiss.

It feels oddly strange to go to his own bed on the other side of the ship without her. He'd locked her door from the inside before shutting it. Not so much to keep others out, the rest of the Knights seemed to prefer to maintain a distance from their wild-eyed new companion anyhow, but in the hopes that the locking mechanism would be too complicated and it would keep Rey safely inside her own quarters all night long.

When Kylo gets back to his own cabin he finds her discarded pants. The ones that she had been wearing earlier before appearing over the edge of the ship. Kylo had assumed she'd simply tossed them into the ocean never to be seen again, the same fate so many of her garments seemed to face, but instead they were wadded at the foot of his bed. His bedsheets also were in a state, almost as if she had been-

Of course not. His mind must simply be wandering. It always takes an extra day or two to get ones 'sea legs' as it were. That was part of what had made her perilous climb along the ship's outer walls so terrifying. Clearly the girl was without fear, and that was frightening in itself.

Tired as he is, it takes a better part of an hour before sleep finally claims him.

* * *

Moonlight and sea spray.

Kylo wakes from a dream. It had been a nonsensical thing. He had been out on the open waters in a tiny little fishing boat. Nothing like the Falcon. It was night and the moon was high but buried behind thick clouds. Seaspray was choking him, because he kept calling out for Rey. Searching for her in the middle of the night in the middle of the ocean.

And then he'd woken up and there she was.

Rey was curled up naked by his side, her head resting against his shoulder. Moonlight was streaming in at a muted angle, indicating that dawn was not so far away.

He had locked his door. For propriety. A flick of the Force reveals it to be still locked, but the lone window outside open.

The sea spray. That's what he'd been smelling so vividly in his dream. He had locked his door before retiring but hadn't thought to check the window. That must have been how she had scaled the ship that afternoon and now how she had crept into his room without any of his other Knights knowing.

"That's terribly dangerous, M'Lady," he whispers against the top of her head. "You could slip and never be found. We wouldn't even know until morning."

Rey stirs quietly, and Kylo shushes her. She's still asleep, and by the looks of it her dream was much more peaceful than his.

Another kiss to her forehead and Kylo settles her back down, watching out the narrow window as the now choppy sea crests against the ship.

* * *

author note:

I actually was going to end this chapter on a cliffhanger but that would have needed another full long scene to setup so I'm thinking I'm going to do that next time. Next chapter will be a pretty short one then, but hopefully I'll have it out soon!

* * *

Comment replies:

.Feathers - I'm glad you're liking the Knights a little better now. They're not bad folks, really, but mostly they're wondering WTF is going on with their leader shacking up in secret with a clingy, kinda crazy mermaid. What sort of mess has he gotten himself into? Now that there's a smaller bunch of Knights on the trip I hope to flesh out their characters a little better. Thanks so much for commenting!


	25. On the Horizon

author's note:

Back after taking a long break! This chapter's rather short but fun I think :) And it sets the ground for the next big events. I hope you all enjoy it and drop me a comment if you do!

* * *

Kylo's fanged hellbeast of bedmate woke him up with a bite to his right nipple.

His sudden, shocked grunt echoed hollowly against the wooden walls of the cabin. It took him a few moments to orientate himself, so enmeshed in a dream of dark mists and shadowy waters to remember exactly where he was.

Rey coos, bringing him back to the present. Her smirking lips are pursed in what Kylo assumes may be an apology. She runs a hand across his bared chest and he raises an eyebrow.

"Did you undress me in my sleep?"

That was a side effect of laying next to a being such as hers whose presence is so silent. She could be doing practically anything to him when he was unawares and vulnerable. For that, Kylo opts to count himself lucky that a rude bite and his shirt half opened are all he seems to have endured.

Rey giggles in answer and he sighs, shaking his head. Then she mounts him, throwing her legs to either side of him as she rests her little rump on his thankfully still-clothed crotch.

She's naked, of course, though Kylo hadn't paid attention to that fact until she starts to bounce.

"M'Lady!" His choked voice is a side effect of bulging eyes. "No no, M'Lady, we can't! We absolutely musn't!"

It was still early yet, judging by the tint to the light coming from his window. Likely most of the other Knights were still sleeping. It would be most unseemly for their leader and his guest to give them a rude awakening.

Rey tips her head to one side as she looks down at him. Her lips move, mouthing shapes though no sound comes out.

Then her hands resume stroking his chest and she begins to hum. It's a quick and odd tune that momentarily gives Kylo pause.

Ah. That's right. Their last night in the village. Someone had been singing this old sailor's shanty and Rey must have been listening more intently than he'd realized. She mimics the tune almost exactly, matching it with light, lilting sounds rather than the true words.

Kylo sighs when his shirt is opened. He sits up, or tries to, but she adjust her position on top of him to grind herself against his growing interest.

It's not as if her offer isn't without temptation. Acutely so. But he really can't. To keep his Knights out of his thoughts requires keen focus, and few things could b more distracting than having his mermaid under him. Or over him, as the case may be.

"Rey. Get up. Let's have breakfast."

He tries to project an image of a heaping platter of food into her mind. Anything to distract her. Rey smirks again, her eyes growing darker as she looks down at him pinned under her. It appears that his attempts to make her hungry might have backfired.

Rey shimmies down him then, scooting herself lower along his legs as her hands begin to tug at his waistband.

"No."

His voice catches as he says it. He takes her hands, twining his fingers with her own. She pauses then tries to reach for him again and he holds her wrists.

Ah, now she gets it. No to _that_. She's figured out what he's been trying to tell her. Rey growls, clearly extremely displeased at being denied.

"Shhh," he lets go of one hand to place his finger over her lips. "M'Lady, we must not make noise. Let's get up and have a hearty meal and go about our day."

Rey's eyes narrow. It seems… that would have been too easy, wouldn't it? Her growl grows and Kylo shushes her again as she squirms.

She wrenches her other hand free and slaps his chest. Then she leans back, resting her weight on one arm behind her near the foot of the bed. Kylo watches helplessly as she licks her fingers, her angry pout never leaving her, and thrusts her hand between her spread thighs to rub herself lewdly on top of him.

"M'Lady!" he cries out, far louder than he should have. Which of his Knights were in the cabins next to him? He can't recall.

Her scowl grows, clearly annoyed with him, and her movements on herself only increase. Kylo gapes, his body reacting strongly despite the shock of her brazenness racing through him.

Then it hits him all at once. _He can't feel her._ Not her mind. Of course he can't. Kylo can't sense her as she- as she pleasures herself- and that means that the other Knights can't either.

Kylo reaches out to steady her hand. He doesn't stop her though, and Rey blinks as she slows her alarmingly rapid pace. For a moment they simply look at each other. He swallows, his eyes tracing the perfect lines of her readily offered body.

He… he could… he could _touch her._ Not himself. Not let her touch him. But since her mind is a fortress of silence, if he can manage to keep her growls and other sounds down, then perhaps there is a solution to this conundrum.

Kylo can safely say that he's never once given a thought to how his fellow Knights alleviate themselves until this moment. Because why would he? But he assumes they must, at least some of them with apparently high libidos such as the twins. But he's never hard them or sensed such behavior.

So full on lovemaking was off the table, but perhaps-

Rey growls, her impatience at his silent inner monologue apparent as she rolls her eyes and slaps his hand away and resumes her work on herself.

Kylo immediately flips them, laying himself on top of her instead of the other way around. Rey's squeak is silenced with his kiss and she sighs into his mouth. For the strangest moment Kylo almost feels guilty, as if he had been neglecting his lady's so apparent needs. Which was ridiculous considering their last joining had been just one dawn ago and no longer.

When he pulls away, Rey grins. She's breathless but clearly very keen, her little hands already snaking their way down between their bodies to begin her attempts at opening his sleeping pants.

He pushes her hands back and tips her chin up. A kiss to her neck and she moans too loud. Kylo pulls back to shush her again, trying to project the concept of silence as he places his forefinger against her lips. She nips him but settles down, now emitting only soft sounds of pleasure as he begins to kiss his way down her body.

When he gets to her stomach she moans again, kicking out and knocking the book he'd been reading before bed. It flies off the table with an audible thunk. Another shush earns him another eye roll, but Rey really seems to be trying to keep quiet. That, combined with the early hour, hopefully will let them both get away with this indulgence.

Throughout all of his lip's exploration, Kylo keeps an iron hold on his own emotions. His mental barriers are strong and all encompassing, his focus unwavering even if certain parts of him can't be stopped in their reactions to what he's doing to the perfect being writhing underneath him.

Stay focused. He must stay focused. Concentrate on the squirming task literally at hand.

Rey needs no guidance with wriggling herself into the right position. She throws her legs over his shoulders with abandon, one of her small hands sinking its fingers deep into his hair to hold him in place. Pity she couldn't be this cooperative about anything else.

If she as any objections to his uncertain and hesitant oral technique she doesn't show it. Her hand in his hair guides him, tugging him slightly up or down or to one side or another or whatever pleases her best at each given second. It's not long before she's doing more ha half of the work for him, and that prompts Kylo to add two fingers to the situation to even the balance.

Rey's next moan is so loud he has to pull away to shush her. Her grips remains, his scalp throbs in protest, and Rey smacks him upside the head again but presses her lips into a tight line of acceptance.

Then he gets back to work. He's getting better at his quickly, or so he thinks. Rey's reactions certainly seem to tell him he's doing plenty right. Her ankles are locked tight over his shoulders, her whole body rocking against his face and making Kylo quite grateful his bed is securely nailed into the wall.

Another whine comes from his mermaid and Kylo extracts the hand he'd been supporting her rump with from out under her. There's a second's worth of hesitation before he reaches it up and lightly wraps it around her mouth, both silencing her and giving her something to suck on. It wasn't so long ago that she was planning on eating his toes. Now her teeth skim and nibble at his fingers before a keen flick of his other wrist makes her bite down with a well-muffled grunt.

Mercifully, Kylo still has his hand and all its digits well-indented but still firmly intact when she finishes her peak. It takes her a few moments longer to come down enough, and this time Kylo helps her uncoil herself from around him. Rey tugs him into an embrace, her fingers now combing through his hair as he rests her head against her breast.

"I take it I did well, M'Lady?"

His voice is muffled by her rapidly rising and falling chest. Rey coos, one of her feet snaking itself around his leg. When he looks up there's a glint in her eyes he's seen before.

"Already? Again? Rey, you just-"

She presses her finger to his lips, this time shushing him.* His mermaid clearly doesn't seem to realize that… that what they just did was it. There was no other main event that he could allow, though he'd tried his inexperienced best to make it as satisfying for her as he could.

It takes much effort and persistence to pull her off him enough that Kylo can sit up.

"Breakfast," he insists.

Rey pouts when he stands. She reaches out, trying to snag his waistband, but Kylo immediately dodges. He dresses himself with military efficiency, not risking taking even a second's look at the highly amorous and put out mermaid still waiting naked on his bed for him.

"You don't have any clothes here."

She had come to him undressed last night. Again. At this rate she'll have discarded and lsot every item he'd bought for her before they reach the Western Station, let alone the Ilos.

"Here."

He pulls out his longest shirt. It will have to do for her escorted walk back to her own quarters before mealtime.

Rey doesn't make it easy on him, though. Because she never does. When it becomes clear that their morning session is indeed well and truly over she throws his pillow at him when he approaches, long black shirt in hand. Then she smacks at him, her hands a flurry of movement, when he tries to get her to stand. Finally she crosses her arms, glaring up at him with pure defiance in her eyes as he starts to drape the shirt across her shoulders.

"Rey, please." Cooperate. It's too early in the morning still and he hasn't had enough caf to deal with her obstinate nature.

Her glare slightly softens when he kisses her forehead, though she continues to struggle as he draws her arms out and begins to slide the sleeves over them. When he finally has her dressed as well as he's going to get her, Kylo gives her another kiss, this time properly to her lips. She bites him. Not hard, but not gently either.

Then she turns, spinning crisply away, and stomps out of his room.

* * *

By the time he has her in her own, proper clothes again Rey's growling stomach and his mental promises of food must have softened her irritation with him. Rey leads _him_ to the dining room, clearly having already memorized the route to it through the labyrinthine tangle of small corridors that make up the ship's second level.

She bursts them into the room, holding his hand in her own and all but skipping as she drags him to the long table. Most though not all of the Knights are present, helping themselves to the reheated leftovers from last night that Gareth had spread out. More than a few curious gazes follow them as Kylo awkwardly shuffles, trying not to picture the absolutely unlikely pairing they must be making now.

"Good morning," Ria says crisply.

Rey snatches the offered bowl right out of her hands and growls in reply, earning her a raised eyebrow from the female Knight. Kylo shrugs by way of apology and Ria almost succeeds in masking her eye roll as a movement of her head.

"That's quite an appetite she's got there this morning, isn't it?"

Gareth watches Rey as she scoops the whole bowl into the soup pot and forgoes the ladle entirely. His comments brings a ripple of mixed discomfort and amusement from the rest of the Knigth, and Kylo clears his throat before serving himself a bowl in a more genteel fashion.

"Ria," he immediately changes the subject, "tell us about the route ahead. You planned it with Silas, didn't you?"

She nods, a frown drifting across her face as Rey next forgoes her spoon in favor of messily drinking the soup right from the bowl's edge. The last two Knights enter, Taleisin followed shortly be a rather grumpy looking Silas, and Ria begins to brief them all on the journey ahead. The first few days should be straight forward, then they'll have a potentially challenging crossing of rough current as they approach the Western Station. All of this will take place over the deep waters, but Ria believes it should be alright as long as they weather holds as predicted.

"Silas, you've been learning the weather from Aemon, correct? How has that been going?"

The youngest Knight stiffens visibly when Kylo addresses him. Odd. Enough so that the others notice, Ria elbowing him in his shoulder when he doesn't immediately answer.

"Well, Sir," he says, still avoiding his leader's gaze as he picks at the plate of food in front of him.

It's then that it dawns on Kylo. The cabin next to his was Silas's. Despite Kylo's best efforts to keep the early morning's events quiet, it seems he hadn't been as successful as he had hoped.

"Ria, continue," he says. "If were _are_ to encounter a storm, what then?"

Attention draws back to Ria as she clears aside enough of the table to spread out a map and begin outlining the possible contingencies to their route. Silas continues to look anywhere but at Rey who has now placed herself on Kylo's lap and bounces her foot to whatever tune must be playing in her head.

Kylo takes this moment to contemplate the familiar faces in the room. This mission was a dangerous one. More so than perhaps Ria was fully letting on. There was a chance not all of his Knights would return to the Island. It was a grim thought, but if it was weighing on the other's minds at all it wasn't apparent. The twins seemed both sleepy and hungover, though Kylo knew for a fact they hadn't drunk too excessively last night despite their best attempts. Mayenne and Talesin both studied the map in front of them, though the latter far more closely.

That was very true to his character, and Kylo often found himself comparing Taleisin to his own, younger self. As their healer, the second youngest Knight was probably the most liked amongst all of them. He had an old soul, a quiet and contemplative nature, and was undoubtedly the one they would mourn the most should he fall.

Silas in contrast was… he was a regular young man. A skilled and lighting fast fighter, but just a few months out of his teenage years with much improvement still needed. Ironically less than a year was between him and Taleisin, but their youngest Knight would often let his youth or enabling influences like the twins get the better of him. While Taleisin would spend his free nights with his face buried in a book- just as Kylo himself had done when he was the same age- Silas would allow himself to get distracted by pursuits his high station in life should have held unfitting. Perhaps it was a mistake to take him on this mission after all.

Kylo stands, closing off their meeting, and summoning all the Knights to the top deck. Today they would practice sparring and harnessing the Force for all of the daylight hours. Kylo would see to Rey's training himself, but he wanted to assure himself that each and every one of them were as prepared for the challenges ahead as they could be.

"The moon is making a cross tonight."

Ria's voice is low, her tone serious. Kylo stares at the elongated X shape of fog illuminated by the rising moon. Below his feet comes a muted round of laughter. All of the other Knights and Rey included were down there finishing dinner. Ria hadn't requested Kylo's presence as she slipped away upstairs, but a heavy aura had hung over her all evening. He had felt it himself as well, though he'd pushed it into the back of his mind along with his other concerns.

"You think this is a bad omen."

Ria doesn't answer. She draws her shawl tighter around her face until just her eyes peek out. Temperatures had dropped sharply since the sun left. Much more so then they should have.

The hatch to below deck opens, spilling warm light and louder noise across the top deck for a moment before it closes again. Kylo steps to the side, making space for Taleisin to join them against the railing.

"We don't believe in omens," the younger Knight says. "Omens are superstition. Superstition is forbidden."

"Not forbidden," Kylo corrects, "but foolish. Superstition can blind us to the warnings of the Force. Make us doubt what we know to be true and belive things are possible that aren't."

Taleisin nods, offering Kylo his untouched mug of ale. Kylo shakes his head and Ria similarly dismesses him, waving her hand away then pointing at the moon.

"What do you make of that, then? Superstition or something else entirely?"

The glwoing cross was now under the moon, the heavy fog making it seem larger still. Kylow frowns, an odd pit of unease growing in his stomach. If he squinted, it almost looked like-

"Fire."

As soon as he says it, he can smell it. Burning wood. Burning tar. Too far away to see what it is, but out here in these remote waters there was only one option.

In the distance another ship was burning, it's central mast now a pillar of flames. They hadn't seen it before because of the heavy fog. The fog that was too heavy, too *cold, to possibly be natural.

And now they were heading right toward it.

* * *

Author's Note:

Anyone else doing NaNoWriMo this year? It's that time again! This will be my 4th year in a row! I'm so damned rusty with writing, and now I've only got a little time left to get back in the groove and start planning. I think i'm going to do a mix of fanfiction and fiction-fiction, anyone else want to share their plans? :) You can find me on tumblr at .com and on twitter at Ava_Avdal I love to chat so feel free to message me and say hi! :)


	26. Cold as the Edge of Night

author's note:

Okay, I think I'm going to change my posting schedule from every 2 days to every 3 since… I'm a busy person. That's still an update a week or sometimes 2. I'm getting my writing groove back, it's all working out!

* * *

CHAPTER 26

Even under the dark of night Kylo could still see the blood in the water.

The Falcon was a fast ship, one of the fastest on all the seas. They had made it to the wreckage in less than half an hour, but by the time they there got the scene was one of chaos and ruin.

The ship- or whatever was left of it- had been from Winterton. Not a naval ship, but rather a smaller passenger liner. It wouldn't have been heading towards their Island, but whatever destination was now lost to the raging waters.

"No one could have survived this," Gareth mutters.

Flames still burned on the surface, fed by pools of lamp oil and timber. The smell hung acrid in the air, but it wasn't the sharp scent that made Kylo's stomach twist.

There were bodies in the water. Bodies and parts of them. Unattached limbs and pieces of flesh were bobbing about like gruesome lily flowers. They had been cut. Severed. A blade had done this. Someone had murdered these passengers.

Murdered them then burnt their ship into the sea. Gareth was right, no one could have survived this.

"If we'd come here sooner-"

"The fog," Ria cuts him off, already knowing what he was thinking. "We didn't know because of the fog. It had felt unnatural."

"Evil," Taleisin agrees. "This is the work of evil. These deaths aren't on our shoulders, but we will find who did this and avenge them nonetheless."

Kylo grits his teeth as a particularly upsetting body comes into view from the Force-cast lights. It had been a young girl, barely out of her toddler years, and she was missing her head. The body thumps against the side of their ship, throw n up by the churning waters. Kylo turns away with a grimace, his expression being matched with the look of pain and fury in his Knights eyes.

Rey stares at them with a troubled expression. No doubt that Force sensitive as she is she can pick up on their turbulent emotions, and she quickly races from one side of the ship to the other, swinging the lantern in her hands down off the edge of the railing to illuminate the waters. She keeps looking down there into the blackness. Kylo watches her rather than the bloodshed around him. There's no point to what she's doing. All she'll see in the water is death and unanswered questions.

Then she leans forward, tipping so much of her body weight over the edge of the railing that Kylo's heart lurches for a moment. She hisses, her back arching sharply.

"Men," Kylo pushes Taleisin behind him as the younger Knight begins to edge forward himself. "Be on high alert. We may not be alone out here after all."

The air was thick with death and suffering, and that was obscuring the normal clarity of the Force. It clouded Kylo's connection with it just as the fog had hidden the brutal slaughter of this ship from him until it was too late.

"You think whoever did this is still here?"

Balen, the other twin asks it, but Kylo immediately shakes his head. Whoever was responsible for this would have shown themselves by now. They must have cast the fog on purpose to hide from the Knights, and that could likely only mean one thing.

Rey darts again to the other side of the ship, knocking Silas out of her way as she goes. He shakes his head, his expression tense and Kylo can see the reflection of another particularly gruesome death reflecting in his psyche.

"Gods," Kylo mutters, part of him desperately hoping this was all a nightmare he would soon wake from.

"The blood was still flowing," Gareth says, his voice quiet.

Behind him Rey darts again now to the prow of the ship. She's looking for something out there, though what Kylo can't begin to imagine.

"Fresh," Kylo answers. "It must have been very soon. They barely got away from us."

Ria and Taleisin step closer. Kylo exchanges a look of silent determination with his female Knight, but Taleisin keeps his head down and his eyes to the ground. Of all of them he was the most squeamish. The most effected by violence. It must have been tied to his nature as a healer, but when Kylo reaches out to him he takes off his glove and clasps his hand tightly.

Immediately a sense of clarity falls into Kylo's mind. Taleisin holds back the waves of dark energy that had been blanketing the Force, and Kylo pulls deeper on their now shared power to reach out and _see_.

The ship. Not their or the one now half sunk into dark waters. He can see a ship drawing away from them at full sail. Fast as it can. It's a smaller vessel with a crew of only four dark souls.

Just four people did this. Only four killed all the _dozens_ of departing souls that Taleisin is now painfully trying to hold back. It must be nearly unbearable for him, but Kylo pushes deeper. He needs to see the truth.

They're wearing masks. Dressed in black. These aren't from Winterton nor slavers either. Fog heavy and thick masks them, and when Kylo tries to push it aside one of them looks up right at him. His face is hidden but his eyes show shock. Then rage. Then _fear_.

The connection abruptly ends, cut off so quickly that Taleisin cries out, gripping his head in his hands while Ria catches him as he falls.

"They were using the Force." Kylo's voice carries thin against the dark night skies. "They have the power just as we do."

A wave of shock ripples though the other Knights as Kylo pushes what he's just seen into their minds. Bafflingly, Rey's head also snaps to look at him. She had been staring and growling at the surface of the water again but clearly she must have picked up his message as well even if he hadn't purposefully sent it to her.

Kylo frowns for a moment. Then pushes that aside. It doesn't matter right now. Now they have to take action. Their prey hasn't fled nearly as far away as he'd first thought.

"Raise the sails!" he calls out, immediately snapping out of his dark reverie. "Set everything to blow us to the North! Damned well paddle if you have to, we're going to catch up with those monsters and cleave them limb from limb!"

His Knights don't need to be told twice. Immediately they leap into action, Ria and the twins working on the master rigging line while Silas and Taleisin run to the main mast.

Rey, however, starts to howl. Kylo and Ria both pause, watching her as slaps at the side railing and points out. But when Kylo looks there's… nothing. Nothing but a few rising bubbles against the quickly calming black surface.

Rey spins then, shoving Gareth hard in the center of his chest and knocking the rigging line he was setting up right out of his hands.

"Hey!" he shouts, reaching for it again only to get backhanded hard across his face.

" _Rey_ ," Kylo warns, bounding forward and pulling her away from the now enraged archer. "What in the world has gotten into you? We have to go. Have to hurry."

If only he could make her understand. She had her beloved head cutter tied right at her hip, as soon as they catch up with the other boat Kylo doesn't doubt she'll be about to put it to good use.

Rey has none of his promised thoughts that he projects, however. She wrestles out of his grasp and runs again to the railing, pointing and growling and stomping her feet.

More bubbles. Surely she can't be scared of them, can she? This girl is scared of _nothing_.

"Rey," she squirms in his arms as eh tries to pull her back and he doesn't have time for this. "It's just air escaping from a piece of the ship that's sunk. There's no one down there we can save."

She pushes hard at him, now slapping at his chest. Her mouth makes shapes, angry incomprehensible noises coming out as she tries to make herself understood.

They don't have time. Not now.

"Ria," he calls over his shoulder, "take Rey downstairs. I don't know why she's acting like this."

Kylo steps back, letting Rey have her way and squirm out of his arms. When he turns Ria gives him a painfully unimpressed look, her hands full and busy with rigging lines. He sighs, turning next to Mayenne who's currently halfway up the main mast and throwing a rope up to Silas on the crows nest.

Then Rey pushes past him, elbowing him hard enough in the shoulder that Kylo pauses for a second too late.

"No!" he cries, reaching out to stop her with a swoop of the Force.

Too late is too late. She leaps over the far railing, disappearing off the edge of the ship into the dark waters below. Water splashes up past the sides as Kylo races to where she had gone.

Kylo gapes, his mind leaping too fast to process.

'Sir?" Ria asks.

He ignores her, focusing a larger ball of Force to the edge of the waters surface. Not a trace of her. Rey was gone.

"I'm going after her."

He barely says it, but immediate his Knights attention turns from where their guest had vanished to their leader. Kylo starts to strip down, pushing out each and every one of their intruding objections.

Unsurprisingly, it's Ria that catches his arm as he starts to tear at the buttons of his shirt.

"Sir, she's a mermaid."

His boots are kicked off next.

"We leave no man behind, Knight. Mermaid or not, I'm not leaving her."

He shrugs out of Ria's grip and frowns as both Taleisin and the twins stop with their work to gather behind her.

"We leave no one behind, Sir, but we're not stupid about it," Taleisin counters.

All Kylo does is grunt. His men make no move to stop him as he leaps onto the railing, takes a readying breath, and dives off into the ocean himself.

Cold.

The cold of these northern night waters nearly takes that breath right away form him. Kylo is better than that, though. He focuses, drawing the Force around him like a shroud. It will protect him from the worst of the water's effects and delay the need to breathe. Up to a point and a short one at that.

Kylo can't bring the Force lights down with him, but he senses his Knights – Taleisin most likely- cast their own and bring it to the surface of the water. They're angry and agitated at him, but he cuts them of from his mind as he starts to dive down deeper into the water. Seeing is almost impossible, with only streams of light illuminating nothing but haze. Still he can feel Rey. She's down there, so close but so far. And she's not alone.

There's a dozen other Force signatures surrounding her. Fighting with her. Rey is frantic. She's hurting. Under attack. Kylo pushes himself harder, swimming deeper than he rationally should. He knows what's attacking her. Her own kind. Mermaids.

Rey can take care of herself, Kylo knows this to a fault, but… there's so many of them. How can she even breathe? How long has she been down there? How much further does he have to dive down into this inky black tomb?

Above him the Force lights cast just a hint of illumination now. It's enough for him to see the movement in the water right in front of him. He'd been so caught up in finding and rescuing his mermaid that he completely ignored the more pressing thread of another mermaid coming right to him.

Kylo growls, his lungs aching at the sound as his Force spell begins to ebb. He draws his sword, ready to plunge it straight into the belly of the beast racing towards him.

Then she slows, two more mermaids faintly seen behind him. This mermaid has dark hair, darker eyes, and the look in them is-

Is one of curiosity, not of murderous rage. This deep water mermaid is watching him, but not attacking. Why? What in all the hells was the creature doing?

The mermaid shifts closer, sensing him with the Force just as he's sensing her. She eyes the sword held ready in his hand, and Kylo can sense the trepidation. Then her own arm reaches out and his grip on the blade tightens. After everything- after _Rey_ \- it just doesn't feel right to slaughter this being. Not when she hasn't attacked him first.

The two other creatures circle closer, only to be pushed back by an aggressive sweep of this one's tail. Kylo gapes at her as her hand _strokes_ him. She trails her palm first down the center of his shirtless chest, then up to flick his hair away from… from his shoulder. Bearing Rey's love bite.

The look in her eyes takes on a clear intent and Kylo starts to push away, his lungs now aching with the need to breathe. He'd lost track of Rey under this mermaid's perversion. He can't- he has to-

The mermaid's tail snakes around his legs, pulling him closer even as he starts to struggle back to the surface and its life giving air. Then cold lips lock around his own, oxygen being pushed into his lungs just as two more sets of hands grab him and hold him down.

 **Enough!** He screams it through the Force, physically throwing his aggressors back. That does the trick. The mermaid that had been so unwelcomingly kissing him lunges forward, all claws and teeth bared at his rejection of her attentions.

Then a glint of metal wrapping itself through her neck is all he sees in the dim lights from above. Kylo swings his sword behind him, spearing one of the other two just as Rey finishes off the first. Her movements are clumsy and one-handed. She's- she's holding body behind her, dragging it by the ankles.

All around them the mermaid begins to swarm, the waters now churning with anger and fury. Kylo grabs Rey's hand but she's the one who leads him tot he surface, their exodus nearly in a panic with her morbid cargo still in tow.

When they break the waters Kylo literally cries out in relief, his aching lungs filling themselves once more with precious air. Only a moment later he's dragged under again by countless hands. He swings, Rey dives, and the waters run warm until a very familiar Force signature, or rather _twins_ of them he should say, drag them both out of the water and into the Falcon's longboat.

"Kylo."

Balen gapes at him in disbelief. Kylo has no answers, only mute gratitude. They had been nearly overwhelmed, and that's not to even begin to process the bizarre encounter he had just endured below the surface of the waves.

Rey still has the body she was hauling up locked in her arms. Kylo's heart lurches when he sees her. She's in poor shape, a myriad of bites and cuts etch along every exposed part of her skin. She hadn't been defending herself properly. Why? For a corpse?

Taleisin had come with the twins and he shakes his head, kneeling down low next to a growling Rey as he places his hand on the temple of the the adolescent boy she's carried up from the deep.

"He's alive. He's alive, and the only survivor of this whole massacre."

* * *

Author's note:

So… can you tell I know nothing about how ships work? Outside of Pirates of the Caribbean and a vague memory of my dad watching Hornblower? Let's just pretend that all my nonsense about rigging and masts and sails makes sense, 'kay? It's a fantasy world. Any mistakes can be explained away by the Force and Magic. Cool. Mic drop.

As always your comments give me so much life and I love each and every one of them so please keep it up! This story especially, it doesn't get as many views and comments as my average but people still seem to really enjoy it so I'm going to keep on going until we get to the end, I promise!

If you want to chat or anything, feel free to find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and on twitter Ava_Avdal : )


	27. Touch Me and You'll be Wearing that Rag

"I wish you could talk to me, Rey. By the gods I wish we could talk."

Kylo carried his wounded half mermaid back to his room. She had clung to him tightly, her bloody arms wrapped snug around his neck. Her breathing was labored, but steady. She needed healing, and probably more than Kylo himself could give her.

"Why did you take such a risk?" He'd set her down and her legs had been wobbly. Kylo had to bite back a reprimand. "You could have been killed. I wish you'd told me what you were going to do."

He starts to undress her. Her clothes are a soggy, tattered mess and he needs to see the full extent of her injuries. Rey pouts up at him, clearly having determined that he wasn't too pleased with her.

"You have to be more careful, Rey. You simply have to."

Because I don't know what I would do without you.

Kylo leaves that part unsaid, however. He gently lifts her arms and Rey helps him wrestle her shredded bodice free from her skin. There were numerous cuts and scratches lacing across her upper body, and a whole array of vicious looking teeth marks as well.

"You're not fully used to your new form," he tells her. He kneels to take off her shoes before remembering that shew hardly wears any to begin with. "You overextend yourself. Going down there, You can't breathe underwater, or had you forgotten?"

Despite everything, a corner of Kylo's mouth lifts at the memory of her first bath. She'd tried to breathe then and had been rather put out when she couldn't.

He draws her pants down and Rey supports herself on his shoulder as he helps her step out of them. Nothing on underneath, no surprise there. The only thing his lady seems to like less than wearing shoes is wearing her unmentionables.

"I'm sorry." The state of her injuries is painful to look at. Those hellish mermaid really were out for her blood. "I should have come to you sooner. I should have stopped you from going overboard."

Several wounds were actively bleeding. Kylo will need to clean them and then try to heal, but Taleisin would most likely be needed. He was with the boy now. Rey had rescued him at great peril, and his life still hangs suspended precariously in the Force. As much as Kylo would like to demand Taleisin comes here right now and heals Rey, his powers are needed by the child much more.

"How did you know he was down there?" Kylo asks. Rey bites her lower lip and looks down at him. "He was so down deep, there was scarcely any light at all. How did you sense him?"

Rey was strong with the Force, though unstudied. Her connection with it was purely instinct driven, or so Kylo had begun to theorize. It made her more connected to it, most likely. To simply _feel_ what the Force was trying to tell her without all this rational thought and comprehension getting in the way.

"I believe that… yes, I _would_ have sensed him too. But I was so preoccupied with finding those that did this. When I saw the state of the rest of the ship-" his voice trails off then, a sharp pain gripping his chest. If they had been but a half hour's time sooner…

Rey coos. She picks up his chin with her palm and smiles down at him. Her fingers rake through his hair and Kylo laughs softly.

"Trying to comfort me, M'Lady? Surely that should be my job to you, shouldn't it?"

He rises. Frowns at the bloody state of her. She was a mess. This was his fault.

"It's a miracle you saved the child, Rey. I wish- I wish I could let you know how proud I am of you for doing that."

He goes to his wardrobe and pulls out one of his shirts. It's loose and black and hangs halfway down his mermaid's thighs as he draws it over her.

"Maybe I don't give you enough credit." Her hands go back to his chest, resting over his heart as he starts to button his shirt up her torso. "You really are the most remarkable thing, aren't you? Please, always come back to me. No matter what."

A voice clears behind him. Rey cranes her neck as Kylo turns. Gareth waits in the doorway, a large bowl of steaming water in his hands to clean Rey's wounds with. Behind him is Ria, and Kylo can immediately feel Rey tense in his arms as she glares at the female Knight. Ria in turn simply rolls her eyes and steps inside. She places a small glass jar of healing ointment on the table by the door.

"How is she?" Ria asks.

She steps closer and Rey begins to hiss. Kylo carefully grips her shoulders, holding her steady. The last thing they need is Rey aggravating her wounds even more.

"I'll need our healer," Kylo answers.

Behind them Gareth sets the bowl of bathwater down and leans against the door frame, watching with a hint of amusement as Rey all but arches her back as Ria approaches closer.

"Ria-" Kylo warns.

She shakes her head, ignoring his most prudent warning. She picks up Rey's arm, almost admiring the gaping and bloody wounds decorating it. Rey growls, trying to lash out but Kylo stops her.

"You shouldn't do that," he warns.

Ria cracks a smirk. It's an unusual expression for one as hard headed as she is. Then she looks Rey right in the eyes, dropping her arm and nodding.

"You're a very brave warrior. You did well tonight."

She steps back and Rey finally stops hissing. She glares at the other woman, but palpable waves of confusion radiate off of her. Kylo hesitates then nods, giving his silent thanks to the female Knight.

"Crazy thing she did, diving into the night ocean like that," Gareth comments. He tosses the jar of healing salve to Kylo who catches it mid air. "Likely won't be enough in there, but it's a start. Take care of the worst of the bleeding at least."

Kylo nods and wraps his arm around Rey's waist. She looks at him thoughtfully as he picks her up and takes her to his bed. He minds to set he down very carefully then untangles her fingers from the front of his shirt where she'd been clinging.

When she lands on his bed she sprawls out, spanning her arms and legs wide across both sides of his thin mattress like a starfish. Kylo clears his throat and pulls the hem of his shirt lower down along her legs.

"She certainly seems quite comfortable there. In your bed."

Gareth says it with a- well not even a barely concealed smile. Ria shakes her head next to him, an air of disapproval written all over her features. Kylo can't change the conversation quick enough.

"So how is he? The boy that she rescued."

Rey tosses and turns, humming softly to herself. Kylo steps in front of her.

"Half drowned," Gareth answers. "Or more than half. He's hanging on by a thread of life, and Tal's doing all he can for him but-"

Kylo nods, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. Taleisin was a skilled healer, but for every last one of the Knights such a connection with the light side of the Force wasn't without its difficulty. They were Knights. Fearsome warriors. Care-giving was something so foreign to them, but Kylo had to admit that Taleisin was among his favorites of all his men.

"We don't know if the child will make it," Ria says.

Kylo nods, sighing deeply. To say they were ill prepared to take care of a young boy was an understatement. But it was their duty nonetheless.

"What in the gods happened to him down there in those depths?"

Kylo asks it as much to himself as to the others. A human boy taken far below the surface of the water? They hadn't been feeding on him, but then for what? Why? What could they possibly want from him?

"Sir," Ria shifts, her stance uncomfortable and Kylo frowns as his attention snaps back to her. She was easily the bravest and most stoic of all his men. Something strong must truly be troubling her.

"What is it?" he asks, his eyes darting to a stone-faced Gareth standing next to her. Ria clears her throat before answering.

"He was wearing this. Apparently. Taleisin had to cut off his clothes and- and when he did the boy had this placed around his neck."

She hands him a necklace. Seemingly. Kylo eyes the suspended ring of shells with great suspicion.

They were connected together with braided strands of seaweed. Kylo can sense a faint gossamer hint of the Force. The item feels important. Significant.

"They put this on him then?" he asks. "The merfolk?"

Ria tips her head to the side. Gareth watches on impassively. It would seem to be that way, but of course no one could know for sure.

"It seems that way," Ria eventually says.

Kylo slides the necklace from one hand to the other. The bizarre behavior of the merfolk when he'd been down there had been weighing on his mind. He hadn't the time to tell his Knights about what had happened or even to really ponder it himself. For all the realms it had seemed as if that mermaid that had approached him had wanted to keep him alive. Just as they had with this boy.

"Truly strange events are underway," he finally says. "We must be careful at every turn. I don't trust this. Things shouldn't be as they are."

"What does she think about it then?" Gareth asks, gesturing at Rey.

It was a good idea. See what the mermaid in their midst thinks about this unexpected sequence of events.

Kylo takes the necklace to her. Rey is laying down in his bed, the tightness to her brows the only hint that gives away the sharp pain she must be feeling.

She sits bolt upright though when he presents the charm to her. Rey gives him almost an insulted look, a deep growl echoing as she regards it. Then she snatches it from his grasp, hurling it out the door with a loud yowl. She nearly clips Ria, and the necklace clatters into two pieces against the far wall of the hall.

"Well I guess that answers that, then," Gareth comments.

Rey slumps back, the growl still echoing from her lips.

"Sir?" Ria asks.

Kylo shakes his head to her unspoken question.

"You both may go. I will clean her and heal her as best as I'm able, but tell Taleisin he's needed in here. If- if the boy should live, we will have much to discuss. Otherwise he can come when he can."

Losing a patient always weighed so heavily on him. Kylo doesn't doubt that Taleisin would take their newest passenger's death very heavily even though he had no part in it.

Ria nods, both she and Gareth leaving. Kylo picks up the now tepid bowl of water and approaches his bloody mermaid. Rey gives him a tired smile and obligingly lifts up the hem of his shirt from herself to let him begin his work.

* * *

Rey was uncharacteristically hostile and difficult with Taliesin.

He had come not too long after Ria and Gareth had left, and he'd brought with him a fresh bowl of hot water and wrappings. Kylo had only had limited success with healing his mermaid himself. His thoughts were simply too exhausted and far away to commit to the healing spells properly.

Rey had growled with Taleisin had come close. Both he and Kylo had sighed a weary sigh. Taleisin was clearly exhausted after spending so much of his energy on the child. Kylo had hoped that Rey would be more accommodating and simply let him work on her in peace.

"Um, Miss? I would like to treat your leg wounds first."

Taleisin bends over her, inspecting the deep wounds and bruises that littler her lower limbs. Rey had been glowering before but now she kicks up, pushing him back when he reaches for her.

Taliesin looks to Kylo for assistance. Rey turns over her shoulder to give him a significant look at well. With a crisp nod of duty Kylo sits at the head of his bed and lightly rests a hand on her shoulder. A low growl emerges from between her tightly clenched lips and she bumps her shoulder until he lets go.

"What's wrong with her?" Taleisin asks. He looks like he wants to settle on the edge of the bed to begin his examination but is trying to find the least route of ambush to do so.

"She's… she's tired, I think. Or in a bad mood. Usually she likes you. Well enough. Ria is really the only Knight that M'Lady normally has any troubles with."

"My Lady?" he asks, his voice cusping on the edge of incredulity.

Rey snorts loudly at him using her name. The sound of it rather reminds Kylo of a dragon getting ready to exude a pillar of flame. Taleisin almost rolls his eyes before he catches himself. It's a clear sign that his energy well and truly is tapped out from healing their newest passenger. And now Kylo's asked him to do more.

"Call her Rey," Kylo says, then he scoops a squirming mermaid into his arms and against her chest. "Watch out for her teeth, but go ahead and start. I try and keep her from getting too agitated."

He doesn't want to use the word 'restrained, though, with his arms locked behind her in what Rey might think is an embrace, he perhaps already rather is.

Taleisin clears his throat and sits on the edge of the bed next to Rey. She huffs and tried to kick at him, but he catches her foot firmly in his hand. His eyes close and Rey whines, squirming at look up at Kylo behind her as a thin line of the Force is applied over a rather tender looking bite mark along her inner ankle.

Another hiss. Rey begins to struggle with Kylo's grip on her. Then Taleisin pulls away and she wrenches herself forward, yanking her foot free to see for herself.

The wound is pink and raw looking, but no longer open.

Rey straightens. Taleisin leans further back, away from her, and Kylo can sense him trying to find her endlessly allusive mind. Well good luck with that.

"Your foot please, Rey."

Taleisin extends his hand, his chin tipped down and an edge of caution to him as Patient regard Doctor and vice versa.

Her foot slams against his palm with unnecessary force. Taleisin meets Kylo's shrug with an eyebrow raise of his own.

"Alright then. Twist and turn your legs only when I tell you to, Miss Rey, and otherwise please stay still."

He looks up at Kylo who had dropped his hold but still had his hands now lightly resting against her wrists.

"She doesn't understand anything," Kylo tells him, a half-lilt of a smile pulling at his lips.

Taleisin next wraps his whole palm around a deep and broody gash along her walk. Rey sucks in a breath as healing energy fills her.

"You certainly talk to her all the time, Leader. Is it perhaps only you she can understand?"

Kylo's smile falls. Likely it wasn't meant to be a baiting question. Not one coming from Taleisin. One of the others perhaps. But the subtext was that Kylo had a special connection with his clingy guest that none of the other Force0sensitive Knights could share.

Yet, the truth was...was...was that Kylo had gotten used to talking to her. Talking _at_ her. Conversation made their odd relationship feel more normal, even if it was of a one-sided nature.

"Good," Taliesin says when he doesn't get an answer. "This leg from the knee down is mostly healed. I'd like to do the next one then her upper thighs while I still have energy. You said the rest of her wounds weren't nearly as bad?"

Kylo nods.

"There are a few that I'd like you to see, but I know you're running low of energy."

"Have her extend her other leg over. If that's something you can get her to do.":

"Right."

Kylo project the image of what he wants into Rey's head. She frowns. Deepens to a scowll.

But when a clearly impatient Taleisin simply reaches out to her knee to do it himself she shoves her foot in his face. The she giggles as he glares up at her and yanks it into a firm grip.

"I take back what I said before," Kylo says, amusement pricking in him. "I do believe she actually does like you after all."

"And this is how she shows her appreciation?" Taleisin mutters it darkly. He heals two of Rey's wounds at once. It was a method that took much greater power than simply one at a time, but Kylo was getting the impression Taleisin had had enough of this even when there still was a great deal of Rey left to go.

Rey growls again when he starts to lift the hem of her shirt to up higher on her legs. Technically it was the hem of Kylo's shirt, and that might have made it even worse.

She slaps him. Hard.

Taleisin… blinks. Then slowly recoils back, pulling away from her with his hands still floating in the air between them. He looks up at Kylo with a befuddled expression.

"Did she think that I was trrrfhn-"

The last word is muffled again by Rey's foot to his face. She kicks him away with a steady pressure until the younger Knight falls right off the edge of the bed entirely. The glare he gives his leader is both uncharacteristically insolent- though perhaps forgivable given the situation and his great exhaustion- but also clearly laced with an unspoken _can I just leave already?_

Kylo shakes his head, adjusting his grip on Rey and trying to figure out how he can get her to understand this.

Taleisin stands, picking up the now sloshed over bowl of water and pink tinted cloth that had been used to clean her wounds.

Rey squirms, reaching to unbutton the top button of her shirt herself. Kylo raises an eyebrow and she yanks the collar open, presenting the love bite he had given her during their- their first _intimate encounter_ with each other.

 _Oh_.

"Talesin, she- uh-"

The Knight flinches as understanding strikes him. He starts to turn visibly red, always one of the more easily flustered of them, and Kylo wonders if he's matching him himself.

"You have the same bite, Sir." Taleisin takes a step back, his eyes sliding then lingering on the door behind him. "I saw it when I healed you after the sparring."

Kylo clears his throat. Rey relaxes incrementally as the distance between her and Taleisin grows.

"She- it's how she shows friendship."

Of course his Knight could sense the lie in it. Poor Taleisin, he seems so terribly uncomfortable. At least Kylo knows he'll stay tight-lipped about this development and not go blagging about to the others. Kylo doesn't need their moral condemnation now, even silently.

"Perhaps her arms only, then?" Taleisin offers, now having edged back half out f the room. "I assume you've seen her naked torso. Are there really any serious wounds there I must attend to?"

"Her clothes were soaking wet. I had to get her changed into something dry."

"Of course."

Gods, why does Kylo suddenly feel like some sort of- of- of debauched fiend? Rey shifts against, looking up and he can still sense the edges of her pain that still lingers.

"Just the arms, then. Now reach out, M'Lady."

He holds her hand in his, tangling their fingers together and drawing her right arm straight. This time Taleisin approaches from the side, mindful to keep out of the range of her legs and feet.

The healing is quick and perfunctory. Rey is grumpy, occasionally even snapping her teeth at Taleisin as he rolls up her sleeves or reaches across her. When he finally stands, there's a light sheen of sweat to his forehead and his skin is more pale than usual.

"Will that be all, Sir?"

Rey throws the bloody rag at him. She crosses her arms, glaring. Kylo rubs his temple, nodding a dismissal.

When Taleisin leaves Rey tries to drag Kylo into bed with her, but eh stops her. Tucks her in and this time she allows him to leave without too much of a fuss. A light touch to her forehead helps lull her into a much-needed sleep. One that Kylo will hopefully join her in, but first he needs to see to one last piece of business on the fateful night.

* * *

The boy was around ten or eleven years old, barely conscious, and echoes op the energy emanated from him.

"He has the Force," Balen says, watching closely but keeping his distance.

"Likely not strongly, but it's there" his twin agrees. "We won't know for sure until he's more lucid."

"So he'll likely live." Like the brothers Kylo also hung back, trying to sink into the shadows of the small storage room that had been hastily turned into the boy's infirmary. "When he can speak we'll have to try and talk to him. Find out what he remembers of the attack."

And then they'll have to find something to do with him. The Western Station was likely a very dangerous place, the Ilos even moreso, and the odds of them just happening to cross a friendly and suitable ship in these wintery waters was very slim.

"He was asking for his parents," Mayenne says. "I didn't want to tell him right then. He fell unconscious again shortly after."

Right. Tell this strange, Force-sensitive boy who'd just been kidnapped by a gang of mermaids that his whole family had just been horribly slaughtered. And now he was on a ship alone with the Knights of Ren.

"Perhaps tomorrow Taliesin can be the one to..."

Kylo lets the words hang. Such a discussion was a highly delicate manner, and none of his Knights were even remotely suited for it. Apparently all but Mayenne had badly frightened the child when he'd woke. No doubt he'd favored Mayenne because of her gender and smaller size, something that Kylo was sure secretly irked her.

"Tal's done enough," Balen finally answers. "He looked half dead when he'd stumbled into our bunk room a few minutes ago. Let me and Gareth talk to the boy when he wakes up. We'll find a way to charm him, or at least not scare him too badly more."

Their passenger was likely about the same age as the twin's ad been when the great war between the Island and Winterton had broken out. Maybe they would still have some points in common with him, though that hadn't looked like a slaver's ship.

"Alright then," Kylo agrees. "First thing when he comes to, ask him about the mermaids. Ask him what they had been trying to do to him. Then… then break the news about his family. Use the Force to calm him, if you have to, and that should get you a read on his abilities. If his powers are going to grow we should teach him a few basic controls before we set him out with a new caretaker."

Caretaker. Somehow. Kylo didn't have a bloody clue what they were going to do with the child.

Before Kylo goes to bed for likely only an hour or two's rest, he stops at the ship's hold. Maz had given him several books and old records. He'd been looking through them before to try and understand Rey's existence, but it's possible he overlooked something else that may now have new meaning.

The real question now lingered heavily on his mind. What in all the realms _had_ those mermaids been doing? To the boy, to Rey, to _himself_?

The Western Station was looming closer. The villains who had attacked the ship had fled there. With a favorable wind, The Falcon should catch up with them in a day's time.

Somehow, though, Kylo doubted he would find anything but more questions.

* * *

Author's Note:

Yay, managed to squeeze a chapter in before my flight this evening! Relocating back to Prague to weather out the winter, and the cooler temperatures are hopefully going inspire this setting. I got asked on twitter how far into the story we are. I think… well it's not firmly outlined but I'd say around the 60-70% mark. After the halfway for sure. There's the business at the Western Station then its off to the Ilos. Lots of chapters going on there. And then possibly an epilogue chapter or two. We'll see, I'm kind of just figuring it all out as I go.

Poor Kylo. Poor kid that's likely to be hurled at the first not totally, completely, 100% sketchy person the Knights can find. And poor Taleisin. No one gropes a mated mermaid, doesn't he know that? Just bad manners.

And, as always, you can find me on tumblr at lost-inthesunlight and on twitter Ava_Avdal

* * *

comment replies:

Coesa Rudo – Oh glad you liked this chapter! A whole lot of things were going on, and it set the ground for the last 3rd of the fic. Poor Kylo needs to start trusting his mate more, but he's just so darned protective of her. Thanks for commenting!

.Feathers – Rey had been *trying to tell him about the boy, just her thick headed mate wasn't listening! Now they've really got a situation on their hands to deal with. All will be explained in time, though. Thanks so much for commenting!

Demelza1999- Glad to have you on board with this fic! Congrats on getting your movie tickets, I'm so like OTT excited! It's going to be so much fun, can't wait!

Thanks for commenting too! : )

Angelique Sauvegarde- Oh good, I was just kinda guessing what everything was called. Or existed, lol. Thanks so much for commenting!


	28. Drawing Closer

Kylo woke up slumped over the desk in his room.

He hadn't remembered falling asleep like that, but he had stayed up far late into the night pouring over the books Maz had given him. He had been searching for some sort of clue into the mermaid's odd behavior. All he had found was recounts of many battles dotted with the rare less than hostile encounters between merfolk and adult humans, but never between them and a child.

Then, apparently, he must have passed out face first into the old and dusty tome he'd been reading. This itself wasn't exactly unusual for him, long periods of insomnia were an occupation hazard after all, but it brought a slight smile to his face when he saw the wadded up pillow Rey must have slipped under his forehead.

When he stood up, one of his blankets fell off his shoulders as well. He laughed, picking it up, before turning to thank her for her undeniably sweet attempt at looking after his comfort.

However, his guest was nowhere to be seen. He would have sworn she would be a standard fixture in his bed every morning. Perhaps he'd been rather looking forward to a repeat of last morning's _interaction_. But his bed was empty, and a quick scan of his mind across the nearby rooms revealed that her unique sense of nothingness was nowhere close either.

He frowned and dressed quickly. Today was a thick and dim morning, and he chose his full battle regalia except for his mask to fit the mood of the night before. Battle was brewing in the air. They were drawing closer with each wave the Falcon broke. Kylo was ready for it, and he needed to lead his Knights forward with the same conviction he felt burning through his heart.

The halls outside his room were silent. Kylo could feel all of his Knights up except for Taleisin whose Force signature was projecting such weariness that Kylo opted to let him have a morning sleeping in. It was quite possibly the last time on this mission that would would have such an opportunity and, if the fight looming ahead was anything like Kylo was expecting, they would all need their power and strength to be at its fullest.

He first went into the Falcon's galley. Inside were Ria, Mayenne, and Silas. They had laid out the navigation maps, though Mayenne was the only one eating. The other two were lost in conversation, pointing at different points on the map while Silas scribbled down what looked like calculations.

"Sir," Mayenne said, tipping her head.

Kylo nodded and stepped past her. The large cooking pot of stew from last night simmered slightly on the stove top, but his appetite hadn't recovered yet from the grim sight he'd seen only a few hours before.

Instead, he poured himself a cup of strong, steaming caf and stood behind his Knights. Ria and Silas waited for him to speak before continuing their discussion of the map.

"Have you spoken to the boy yet?" he asks Mayenne.

It had been a pressing thought against his mind. Kylo had calculated for nearly every possible contingency when they'd set out for this mission. However, the notion of somehow being responsible for a Force sensitive orphan hadn't made the cut. What in the gods were they going to do with him now?

Mayenne shrugged and poked at the bottom of her bowl of leftover stew. Despite what the child might have first thought about her, she was hardly the sensitive and nurturing soul he needed her to be. Part of her nature was very practical, and the other half tended toward cold detachment. Mayenne's story was one not of orphaning, but deliberate abandonment when her Force powers had first started to develop. It had made her hard-edged and unforgiving. Good qualities for a Knight of Ren to possess, but hardly a good caretaker to a young child. Taleisin, the twins, or even Silas would probably be better at emotional support than Mayenne would.

"I talked to him a little this morning," she finally said. "He didn't want to say much. I pressed him as much as Gareth and Balen would let me. His name is Alem. His family and all the rest of the ship were settlers."

Kylo pondered that as he poured himself a second cup of steaming caf.

"Settlers? Where from?"

"The Grey Peaks." Ria pushed away from the map to join in their conversation. "Alem didn't know many of the other passengers beyond his family, but it seemed like they were from several kingdoms. Many weren't from Winterton at all, it seems, only passing through."

"From the little I could gather, they were all normal people," Mayenne says. "Farmers and smiths and the like. I pressed the boy for details but he didn't know. Now I wonder if maybe their Captain or someone on board had an enemy?"

This was far more than the work of a personal vendetta. Why kill _everyone_ , save for one unlucky boy?

"What else?" Kylo asked. Mayenne shook her head, her displeased face telling him everything.

"Alem didn't even know the captain's name," she continued. "The ship was called The Wayfarer. I got that much out of him. Our records show that a ship of that name was originally a Winterton merchant vessel that would be sometimes leased out. Last time was two summers ago. As far as we know, it shouldn't have been out here at all."

Kylo frowned, swirling the inky dark contents of his cup around as he tried to piece it all together. The boy looked to be around the age of ten. Young enough to not pay attention to too much more than what his parent's gave him, but old enough to remember. Kylo tried to recall what he himself had been like at that age, but it had been long before he'd started repressing his memories to forget about his earlier life.

"Does he have any family back in his homeland?" he asked hopefully. "Or anywhere else either? Winterton? Grey Peaks was neutral during the war, but now they have a closer connection with Winterton and many of their citizens move freely between both kingdoms."

Mayenne shook her head. "No one," she answered.

Kylo sighed. So he truly is an orphan. Deeply difficult, for everyone involved.

And the family was from the Grey Peaks? Kylo had just assumed the ship and passengers had been from Winterton, and that might by a massive stretch explain a motive. But the Grey Peaks _had_ been neutral. It was a small, landlocked and highly mountainous kingdom. Barely a speck on the world map. They had supplied ore to Winterton during the war that had fueled their weapons forges, but it seemed unlikely that that would be enough of a motivation to fuel the slaughter of an entire ship of innocent civilians.

"Where were they bound to?" Kylo asked Mayenne.

"The boy didn't directly know either. As far as I could get form him, he and his family were going to be dropped off at the Ring Islands. Not all the settlers were staying there, though. Some were heading on to gods only know."

The Ring Islands. Kylo had to scan his memory for even a faint notion of them. "They're past the Western Station. There's nothing there but a few uninhabited pieces of rock. Maybe they could be made fit for farming if someone was motivated enough, but now at this time of year?"

She shrugged. Ria shook her head, agreeing with his assessment.

"Maybe they were motivated," she offered, "but you're right, it doesn't make sense. Winter is almost on top of us, and it would set in even earlier out there. They wouldn't even have time to gather enough firewood to last the season, let alone build a home that could weather out the cold."

Kylo roughened his brow. So what did they have then? A slaughtered passenger ship from a small, neutral Kingdom. A land of so little consequence that they didn't even keep their own permanent ships in Winterton's ports and simply leased them out as needed?

He sighed. Set down his empty cup and poured himself a third. It was going to be that sort of morning, clearly.

"How did he take the news of his family?"

That touchy subject. Kylo only hoped that Mayenne had dug deep and found her sensitivity in this delicate situation.

"Gareth and Balen told him, not me. They said he took it quietly. He's scared of us and I think he's probably still in shock over all this."

Scared of them? No doubt. Kylo could hardly blame him for that.

He turned then to join Silas who was still scowling down at the various scattered maps. Their youngest Knight hadn't had anything to say about the events yet, but he and Ria had planned the route they were taking.

"Brother," he addresses, "how long until we reach the Station?"

Silas tapped a point on the map near to the dark 'X' he'd drawn.

"We're here," he said. "Close. If our strong tailwind holds, we should arrive there near midnight tonight."

The Station was supposed to be abandoned, but Kylo doubted it. Maz had suspected that it had fallen into ill-use recently, and the ship he had sensed last night had been heading in that direction at their fullest speed.

So it would b a nighttime siege then. That had both strong advantages and disadvantages. The masked figures he'd sensed on that ship had the Force with them. It would even the playing field and reduce the advantage of the Knights arriving under the cover of darkness.

Kylo looked closer at the map. Drew the trade route map close to it and studied the paths. Travel in this part of the ocean was at best infrequent. The closest trade route wasn't marked as being particularly near.

"How long would this one delay us if we were to veer off course for it?" he asked.

Silas hesitated, then sighed.

"Two or three days. Three more likely, because this time of year the winds don't flow that way. So there and back again probably near a week."

Inwardly Kylo cursed. They didn't have a week. Any trace of their enemy would have ran cold by then and they would be back to square one.

On the other hand, that route marked their only real chance of finding a friendly or neutral ship the could pass the boy off onto. They could flag them down, demand they take him, and pay for the boy's fare to wherever the ship was bound to. Give the boy a decent start of coin for himself as well. Perhaps pay someone to be his caretaker until h was old enough to be on his own in a few year's time.

"Sir," Ria said, "even if we were to go to that route, the odds of us finding a ship out here now are slim. We might ave to wait for even more days or longer, if we were to be successful at all."

True. Regrettably so. But otherwise it meant drag a child into a bloodbath. This literally couldn't have fallen upon them at a worse possible time.

It was a tough decision, but ultimately an obvious one.

Kylo nodded to Ria. She tipped her head in agreement, her face impassive but Kylo could sense her approval.

"We hold course, then. Silas, push our sails as hard as you can. Get us to the Western Station tonight. We'll hide the boy in our hold in case of the worst."

That was the best they could offer him, but it felt like hardly anything.

Silas nodded, stepping out and heading up to the top. Mayenne dropped her bowl in the sink and left, keeping whatever her thoughts on this to herself.

Kylo cleared his throat and Ria paused in her stacking of the maps to give him a questioning look.

"Have you- er- this morning when I woke up-"

"She's with the boy," Ria answered, a hint of a smile pulling at her voice. "The twins are there too. Perhaps you should go and pay them a visit, Sir? See if they've gotten anything more out of him?"

And to see how Rey's behaving herself. Not that Kylo thinks she would hurt the boy, but… but Rey was a lot. She had risked herself to rescue him, but if the boy could somehow sense that she was a half-mermaid herself? It would be problematic.

Kylo nodded, dismissing Ria. He gave the navigation charts one last long and hard look before turning and heading off to find what his mermaid had been getting herself up to.

* * *

The boy's room was makeshift, sparse, and wholly cramped for the six of the people inside it.

Rey was with them. She was sitting next to the boy on the table they turned into his bed. Her legs swung back and forth over the edge, and she looked down at their newest guest with a sadness tinged smile.

Kylo frowned at her, but stayed lurking in the doorway alongside Ria. The child would cringe every time either of them took a step close,r but it was Kylo's presence himself that seemed to fill him with the most fear.

"I probably shouldn't have worn my armor for this," Kylo whispered under his breath.

Ria nodded. She herself was in her full battle attire as well, though she had pulled back the headdress she normally covered her face with. Arguable it made her look _somewhat_ less intimidating, though the affect then became one of an exceptional tall and broad woman in full mourning.

The Knight's of Ren all worse battle clothing designed to intimidate. Now it was a bit of a problem.

"So tell us about the Captain, could you?" Gareth asks.

He's drawn up a seat next to the bed and is sitting in it in reverse. His posture is hunched over and, like his twin leaning against the wall behind him, he's both casually dressed and very out of character.

"The Captain?" the boy asks quietly.

Kylo makes the mistake of clearing his throat. Their guests eyes immediately widen and he cringes deeper under the blankets covering him. Rey tuts, patting at his shoulder, and he gives her a sidelong look as well.

"Sure," Gareth continues, "the Captain of your ship. The Wayfarer. It wasn't too big of a vessel, you had to have at least seen the Captain a few times right, Alem?"

"Um… He was- an older man. Too old to be a captain. I didn't like him."

"Yeah, old people can be scary," Balen agrees, his voice artificially mild. "What didn't you like about him?"

The boy- Alem, Kylo has to keep reminding himself- shakes his head. Both twins give him a smile in unison, but his young eyes flicker back to Kylo with clear distrust in them.

"He-he yelled at my dad. When we went to get on the ship, we were late. The Captain wasn't happy."

Gareth nods. Kylo detects a faint shift of relief from their guest. Apparently the twins were making inroads into his good graces, albeit little by little.

"Could you tell us anything more?" Balen asks.

"Um… He… I dunno..."

Kylo holds back his sigh. He looks to Ria who's watching from her own corner with a stoic expression.

"Go on," Balen prompts. "Anything. Tell us how your trip was until- er..."

"Met any other kids on board?" Gareth quickly interrupts. "What did you and your parents do to pass the time?"

The boy blinked. He was clearly still in shock, his responses muted and every poke at his psyche revealed a fractured mess. When he speaks, his voice shakes, and Kylo instinctively took a step further out of the room.

"My mom and dad fought a lot," he said. "My sister and I would hide from them. Did you find her too?"

His eyes widen as he looks first at Gareth, then over his shoulder at Rey. Kylo's mind briefly flutters back to that headless child he'd seen, but she could have been with any of the families on board. Still, best to be on with it. If the child was Force sensitive enough, he could easily sense a lie even without training.

"You were the only survivor," Kylo tells him honestly

Honesty, however, earns him a dirty look from all involved, including Ria. Even Rey wrinkles her nose, shaking her head at Kylo before rubbing the boy's hair in a soft circle.

"What Lord Ren means," Balen begins to say, "is that we found you at night and you were under the water so-"

"Lord Ren?!"

The child's voice squeaks. He looks at Kylo with saucer sized eyes before darting most of his head under the covers. Rey hisses, scowling at Kylo and attempting to take the squirming bundle of their guest into some manner of a hug.

Kylo mouthes _what did I do?_ Ria looks back and forth between him and the bed then shakes her head.

"Alem?" Gareth asks, gently pulling back the blanket until two terrified eyes peek back out. "What's wrong?"

"Is that Kylo Ren?" the timid voice asks.

All of his present Knights stare at him. Kylo takes a step back, now halfway out of the room and blocking the hallway to a baffled looking Mayenne as she passes.

"Going well in there I take it?" she asks, but he silences her with a stern glare and she quickly continues on.

"Did you kill my family?" the child asks.

Kylo physically recoils from that. Where in the world would he- is _that_ what the boy thinks is going on? That he and his Knights attacked the ship?

"No," he says, taking half a step forward but Ria stops him with a nudge of the Force. The boy was starting to panic, the sense of his fear flooding the air.

"Alem," Gareth says, leaning forward and patting at a hand-shaped lump under the blanket. "I don't know what you've heard about us Knights but-"

"You kill everything you see. Dad says that's how Winterton lost the war. Because you killed all of them."

That… was so full of errors that Kylo could hardly begin to choose the worst one. But if this child's father had been a Winteron sympathizer… it was still hardly grounds for what happened to the whole rest of the ship.

"We didn't attack you," Kylo promises.

He presses a wave of sincerity toward the boy's mind but Gareth immediately pushes it back. Annoyance sparks in Kylo at the out of line gesture, but maybe his Knight had a point. Even now when the boy's mind was an utter mess, he could sense the raw nature of his connection to the Force. He had potential to be quite powerful. Some day. Pity they couldn't have met him on the Island or anywhere else other than here and now.

"Er..." how does one speak to a child? A traumatized child? One of his age who's now completely alone. Kylo has no idea of any of that, so he tries a different approach. "Do you remember what happened in the water?" he asks, hoping that the change of topic will make the boy forget about exactly who's ship he's on.

He takes one step forward. The boy could hardly shrink anymore, but between Rey's and Balen's persistence they seem to be bringing him back from the edge of an inevitable meltdown.

"A girl kissed him," Balen teased, his tone forcibly light. "You told me that, didn't you Alem? You got down in the water and got kissed by a girl?"

The eyes peek out a little further. There's a slight tint of pink to the boy's ears, and embarrassment flutters through the Force. Rey tuts, lightly pulling two pieces of his hair from side to side until he looks at her.

"We were about your age too when we had our first kiss, weren't we Balen?" Gareth looks over his shoulder, and his twin simply bounces his eyebrows back at him.

Kylo estimates this child was about ten or eleven. He shakes his head, giving Ria a mutual frown.

"Was she pretty?" Balen asks. "A pretty girl kissed you in the water?" His teasing light but either the boy was too shell shocked to register it or the plainness of their conversation was helping calm him. "

"She was a mermaid," Alem whispers. "She didn't- she was helping me breathe. I couldn't and… and..."

"And she kissed you?" Kylo asks. "You mean she gave you air?"

The head nods. One of the mermaids had done that to Kylo, too. It hadn't made sense at the time, but neither had it felt like she was attacking him.

Then Rey had cut off her head, but Kylo opts to omit that part around the child.

"What did they do to you down there?" Ria asks, breaking her silence. "Down in the water what happened?"

The child's emotions spike again and Kylo fights the urge to rub his temple. He could tell they were nearing the end of this and the boy would need to be left to recover soon, but they had barely gotten any useful information yet.

"It's alright," Balen says, nudging at the child's mind gently with a calming press of his own.

"You can tell us," his twin agrees.

Rey pokes at the edge of the blanket and makes a cooing noise.

"It was dark," Alem finally says. "I couldn't see, but… I felt them wrapping me up in something. They were pulling me away from the ship but I didn't want to go. It was on fire and my family was up there and-"

A massive surge of raw pain surges out along the Force. The boy was trying very, very hard to keep himself together, and Gareth says something quiet, attempting to soothe him. Rey wraps herself tighter around his shape and squeezes him. Hopefully not scaring him even more.

Ria gives Kylo an alarmed look as she hurries away. Kylo calls Balen to go with them before leaving himself. His own presence had done precisely zero good and likely much harm to the delicate situation.

"So," Ria speaks first, "what do you make of all this?"inches the bridge of his nose. It was a karking mess in every direction he looked at it.

"Apparently I'm very good at scaring small, defenseless orphans but doing nothing more than standing there breathing."

Wonderful. Even his mermaid had looked at him like he was a monster.

Kylo pinches the bridge of his nose. It was a karking mess in every direction he looked at it.

"Apparently I'm very good at scaring small, defenseless orphans but doing nothing more than standing there breathing."

Wonderful. Even his mermaid had looked at him like he was a monster.

"Well, Sir," Balen says, "you're kind of a scary guy. And your bedside manner is lacking."

"Sorely," Ria agrees.

Kylo scowls at her. She had hardly done much better herself with not scaring the child. Though she had also barely said a word in front of him. Kylo might have to implement that strategy next time.

If there's a next time.

He paces down the hall to the staircase above decks and his Knights fall in place behind him.

"Balen," he says, "please tell me you got something of use from him before I arrived. The Captain. The ship. Crew. Anything."

The twin clears his throat and Kylo stops at the start of the stairs.

"Well, we did," Balen says. "Not much, but we did get him to talk a little before the big, bad, breathing monsters came into the room."

Kylo looks to Ria. She shakes her head. She'd been there when Kylo had arrived, but not by long.

"Alright."

"Well, the kid- _Alem_ \- said his father gotten sick, but it wasn't like a regular sickness. Made him go all funny in the head and say crazy things. Alem didn't know what was going on, but the way he described it his dad was seeing things. High fever, talking nonsense, except no one knew what was wrong with him. Then he disappeared."

Kylo raises an eyebrow, a creeping sense of dread pulling at the corners of his mind. "Disappeared?" he asks. "The father?"

"Yeah. He was gone for two nights, apparently, then he came back with no fever or anything, but he wasn't acting right. _Not like he used to_ **,** Alem said. Suddenly had it in his mind to drag them all away from their homes and get on his ship going out to karking nowhere. I expect hat was what all that fighting between his mom and dad was about."

Kylo looks back to the door where the child's room was. None of the others had come opt yet, but the Force was in great disturbance in there.

"Anything else?" he asks.

I tried to get more out of him," Balen continues, "but he was getting upset. That sharp toothed girl of yours started to growl and fuss at me for making the boy nearly cry, and that went and made him even more afraid."

"She's not my _girl_ ," Kylo says on impulse.

Both Balen and Ria give him a pointed stare. Kylo swallows and clears his throat.

"So you think..." What? What does he think? "Some sort of mental coercion? A powerful enough Force user could sway someone's mind like that, but they'd have to have a reason to."

"These people were no one," Ria steps back and leans against the wall as she thinks. "Simple miners from nowhere. They shouldn't have been out to see at all, let alone all the way out here past any of the normal routes. If anyone was under a Coercion to come here, it would have had to be the Captain. But what of the fathers behavior? His sickness?"

Kylo taps his chin. Looks to Balen who shrugs a shoulder.

"He could have just gone off in the head. Hold a fever for too long and maybe he came back all scrambled. I'm more worried about what those mermaids were doing right there as the ship was burning. Alem didn't make it sound like they were hurting him."

Before Kylo could answer, the door to the child's room opened and Gareth stepped out. He shook his head at them as he walked over.

"Had to put him under a sleep spell," he says. "Your girl got pretty angry with me for that. She's sitting next to him now looking like she'll try to cut my head off if I try that again."

Kylo tries but can't quiet stop his inner flinch. It was a fair assessment. Rey really might try that.

"Do you think she can stay with him then when we get to the Station?" Ria asks. "If the child s that upset, then he might try to do something foolish. We have no idea what's waiting for us there."

"He shouldn't be here," Balen agrees, "your wild woman stays with him and we won't have to worry about her going all crazy and feral either."

It wasn't a bad concept. In theory. Except Kylo knew with a certainty that Rey would categorically not be staying quietly on the ship. If he tried to keep her there, she'd find her way out like she always did. Best she come with them from the start so he can keep an eye on her. As for the child there was nothing that could be done other than lock him somewhere deep in the ship and hope for the best. That was all they had left at this point.

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author's note:

Ugh, sorry this chapter was kinda draggy and not a heck of a lot actually happened. I've been doing nanowrimo and got completely wrapped up in a story I'm hoping to publish before the end of the year. Normally fiction writing is such a drag but this time it wasn't so I was writing while the iron is hot, as it were.

But at least I got something out, right? The Path that Moonbeams Make is nearly ready, and we're about to get to what I hope is a very exciting part of this story as we build up towards Act 3 so I hope you all stick with me for it! XOXO

And as always: find me on tumblr at .com and on twitter at Ava_Avdal : )

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comment replies:

Demelza1999 – I'm glad you enjoyed chapter 27! I hope you checked out this latest update too! Thanks for commenting! : )

.Feathers – Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up, November's just a real tough month for me with nano and traveling and inevitable colds etc. How many more chapters? Well… At least 10, probably. Maybe more, probably not less. Pretty soon I'm going to settle down and iron out the ending properly. As for Rey, she'll be alright. This story has a happy ending, don't worry! Thanks for commenting!


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